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THE 


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CHRISTIAN  DOCTRIJfiailASS 


FORGIVENESS    OF    SIN; 


an  SEssag^ 


JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE. 


FOURTH    EDI' 


BOSTON: 

AMEKICAN  UNirAKlAXv'  ASSOCIATION. 

1874. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867,  by  the 

AMEKICAN  UNITARIAN  ASSOCIATION, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


CAMBRIDGE : 

BTEBBOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BY 

JOHN   WILBON  AND   SON 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I.  —  STATE  OF  THE  QUESTION. 
BBCT.  PAQB 

1.  Importance  of  the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness 9 

2.  Taught  by  Jesus  in  the  Gospels 10 

3.  And  in  the  Book  of  Acts 11 

4.  And  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul 13 

5.  And  by  the  other  Apostles 15 

6.  It  is  necessary  for  Peace  and  Progress 17 

7.  The  Moral  Law  by  itself  may  make  men  worse;  therefore 

Forgiveness  is  needed 18 

8.  But  the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness  is  attended  with  Diffi- 

culties      21 

9.  Which  are  also  found  in  the  N"ew  Testament      ....  24 

10.  Which  teaches  Doctrines  apparently  opposed  to  that  of 

Forgiveness 26 

11.  Such  Apparent  Contradictions  the  Token  and  Evidence 

of  the  Presence  of  Large  Truths 30 

12.  Truths  which  God  has  joined  together,  not  to  be  put 

asunder 32 

13.  The  Orthodox  do  not  fully  teach  Eetribution      ....  34 

14.  Nor  the  Rationalists,  Forgiveness 37 

[3J 


CONTENTS. 


PAKT  n.— -THE  NATURE  OF  FORGIVENESS. 
8B0T.  PAOB 

15.  What  is  Forgiveness  ? 41 

16.  The  Consequences  of  Sin  are  Twofold 42 

17.  The  First,  a  Sense  of  Divine  Displeasure 44 

18.  Which  is  removed  by  Forgiveness 45 

19.  Implying  also  an  Objective  Change  in  the  Mind  of  God  46 

20.  The  Second  Consequence  of  Sin,  which  is  Depravity  of 

Character,  is  not  immediately  removed  by  Forgiveness  48 

21.  Recapitulation 50 

22.  This  View  of  Forgiveness  satisfies  the  Sense  of  Justice  52 

23.  And  the  Need  of  Pardon 54 


PART  III.  —  FAITH  AND   WORKS;    OR,   THE   CONDITIONS  OF 
FORGIVENESS. 

24.  Faith,  Works,  a  Forgiving  Spirit,  Repentance  and  Con- 

fession, the  Scripture  Conditions  of  Pardon     ....  58 

25.  Faith  or  Works 60 

26.  The  Opposition  of  Paul  and  James 61 

27.  The  Distinction  between  Forgiveness  and  Justification    .  64 

28.  Faith  and  Knowledge  distinguished 65 

29.  Faith  and  Belief  distinguished 69 

30.  Faith  and  Opinion  distinguished 72 

31.  Importance  of  these  Distinctions 73 

32.  Christian  Faith  in  particular 75 

33.  Christian  Faith  as  the  Condition  of  Forgiveness     ...  78 

34.  Works,  growing  out  of  Faith,  the  Condition  of  Full  Sal- 

vation      79 

85.  Mutual  Relation  of  Faith  and  Works  in  the  Christian 

Life 81 

36.  Results  of  Forgiveness  in  the  Future  Life 82 

87.  Objections  to  this  Doctrine  Answered 85 


CONTENTS.  O 

PART  IV. — OBSTACLES  AND   HELPS.       - 
SECT.  PAGE 

38.  Difficulty  of  believing  in  Forgiveness 90 

39.  All  Moral  Training  makes  it  more  difficult 93 

40.  Christ's  Revelation  of  Pardoning  Love  alone  makes  it 

possible 93 

41.  The  Work  of  God  in  Human  Forgiveness    ....  95 

42.  The  Work  of  Christ  in  Human  Forgiveness ;  First, 

as  a  Teacher 98 

43.  Second,  in  his  Life 101 

44.  Third,  by  his  Death.    Principal  Texts 102 

46.  Various  Theories  concerning  the  Effect  of  Christ's  Death  106 

46.  These  Theories,  matters  of  Theology,  not  of  Religion    .  108 

47.  How  the  Death  of  Christ  may  produce  Faith  in  Forgiv- 

ing Love  109 

48.  As,  in  fact,  it  has  actually  done 112 

49.  How  Christ's  Death  may  have  satisfied  God     ....  113 

50.  By  communicating  Actual  Holiness  to  Man     ....  117 

51.  The  Work  of  Man  in  his  own  Forgiveness    ....  120 

52.  His  Efforts  to  do  Right  a  Preparation  for  Forgiveness    .  122 

53.  Repentance,  and  its  Relation  to  Faith 124 

54.  Is  Faith  Man's  Work  or  God's  Gift? 125 

55.  God  and  Man  concur  in  every  Act  of  Faith 126 

56.  What  Man  can  do,  and  what  he  cannot  do 127 

67.  The  Work  of  the  Christian  Church 130 

58.  The  Twofold  Work  of  the  Church  in  Forgiveness     .    .  136 

part  v.  —  RESULTS  OF  FORGIVENESS. 

69.  The  New  Life  growing  out  of  Forgiven  Sin  ....  140 

60.  Its  Twofold  Character,  and  that  of  Goodness  in  general  144 

61.  The  Christian  Life  the  Synthesis  of  both  kinds  of 

Goodness 149 


6  CONTENTS. 

8BGT.  PAGB 

62.  The  Evil  of  cultivating  exclusively  the  Goodness  of 

Effort 151 

63.  Forgiveness  the  Practical  Solution  of  the  Problem  of  Evil  155 

64.  And  that  of  Human  Freedom  and  Divine  Providence   .  157 

65.  Conclusion  ......             159 


NOTE. 


The  American  Unitarian  Association  have,  with  the  consent 
of  the  author,  and  in  response  to  a  very  frequent  and  earnest  re- 
quest, republished  this  volume,  which  has  for  many  years  been 
out  of  print.  The  cordial  reception  of  this  Treatise  in  the  former 
editions  proves  that  it  meets  a  very  general  religious  want. 


(i ^EESIT' 


PART    I. 

STATE    OF    THE    QUESTION. 


§  1.    Importance  of  the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness. 

The  doctrine  of  Forgiveness  of  Sin  occupies 
an  important  place  in  Christian  theology.  As 
connected  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Atone- 
ment, it  has  been  placed  by  many  theologians 
in  the  centre  of  the  Christian  system,  and  has 
been  called  the  essential  doctrine  of  Christi- 
anity. It  is  prominent  in  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  and  his  apostles.  Its  influence  on  the 
formation  of  the  Christian  character  is,  as  I 
shall  hereafter  show,  great  and  constant.  Yet 
the  subject  is  attended  with  difficulties,  which 
past  investigation  has  not  wholly  removed. 
On  this  account,  it  seems  desirable  that  the 
doctrine  should  be  examined  anew,  its  diffi- 

[9] 


10  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

culties  fairly  considered,  and  an  attempt  made 
to  remove  them. 

§  2.    Taught  by  Jesus  in  the  Gospels. 

In  the  Gospels,  we  find  our  Saviour  fre- 
quently speaking  of  the  Forgiveness  of  Sin. 
In  the  Lord's  Prayer,  we  are  taught  to  pray 
for  Forgiveness  every  day.  Sometimes,  when 
healing  diseases,  Jesus  said  to  the  patient, 
"  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee."  One  of  these 
occasions  occurred  near  the  commencement 
of  his  ministry,  and  is  recorded  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Matthew  and  the  fifth  of  Luke. 
On  this  occasion,  the  scribes  accused  him  of 
blasphemy,  saying,  "  Who  can  forgive  sins 
but  God  alone?"  But  Jesus  assured  them 
that  he  had  power  to  forgive  sins,  and  con- 
firmed his  assertion  by  healing  the  sick  man. 
In  another  place  (Luke,  vii.),  we  have  the 
remarkable  story  of  the  sinful  woman,  who 
washed  his  feet  with  tears,  and  anointed 
them  with  the  ointment.  At  this  time,  Jesus 
not  only  said  to  her,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven," 


STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION.  11 

but  seemed  to  show  that  her  love  was  a 
proof  of  it.  She  was  not  forgiven  because 
she  loved,  but  she  loved  because  she  was  for- 
given.* Another  remarkable  passage,  in  re- 
lation to  this  subject,  is  that  in  which  Jesus 
says,  that  "  All  sins  shall  be  forgiven  to 
men,  except  that  against  the  Holy  Ghost." 
So  also  is  that  in  which  he  gives  to  his  disci- 
ples the  authority  or  the  power  of  remitting 
sins.f  The  parable  of  the  "  Prodigal  Son  " 
turns  upon  Repentance  and  Forgiveness.  The 
parable  of  the  "  Pharisee  and  the  Publican  " 
teaches  that  humility  is  a  condition  of  For- 
giveness. 

§  3.    And  in  the  Book  of  Acts. 

When  we  turn  to  the  book  of  Acts,  and 
read  the  History  of  the  Planting  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  we  find  that  Forgiveness  of  Sins 

*  This  appears  from  the  last  clause  of  verse  47,  "  To  whom 
little  is  forgiven,  the  same  loveth  little."  Love  is  here  not  the 
condition^  but  the  effect^  of  Forgiveness, — a  distinction,  as  we  shall 
hereafter  see,  of  great  moment. 

t  John,  XX.  23. 


12  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

was  always  announced  by  the  apostles  as  one 
of  the  great  privileges  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  In  Peter's  first  sermon,  he  tells  his 
hearers  to  "  repent  and  be  baptized,"  and  they 
"  shall  receive  the  remission  of  sins,  and  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  In  his  next  address 
(recorded  in  the  following  chapter),  he  tells 
them  to  "  repent  and  be  converted,  that  their 
sins  may  be  blotted  outJ^  In  the  fifth  chapter, 
we  have  another  address  of  Peter  to  the  Jew- 
ish Sanhedrim,  in  which  he  tells  them  that 
"  God  has  made  Jesus  a  Prince  and  Saviour, 
to  give  repentance  to  Israel  3.nd  forgiveness  of 
sinsJ^  In  the  first  account  we  have  of  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles  (Acts, 
X.),  Peter  teaches  Cornelius  concerning  the 
facts  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  about  his  resur- 
rection;  and  says,  that,  "through  his  name, 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  shall  receive  re- 
mission of  sins, ^^  In  the  first  account  which 
we  have  of  the  preaching  of  Paul  (Acts,  xiii.) 
at  Antioch,  he  says,  "  Be  it  known  unto  you 
therefore.  Men  and  brethren,  that  througli  this 


STATE   OP   THE   QUESTION.  13 

man  is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,^^  In  the  book  of  Acts,  therefore,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  Forgiveness  of  sins  was  the 
first  thing  offered,  both  to  the  Jews  and  to  the 
Gentiles,  as  the  gift  of  God  to  believers. 

§  4.    And  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul. 

When  we  turn  to  the  epistles  of  Paul,*  we 
find  this  doctrine  made  equally  prominent  in 
his  system  of  doctrine.  It  is  the  main  subject 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians ;  for  Justification  is 
but  another  name  for  Forgiveness,  and  the 
essential  idea  of  Forgiveness  is  also  conveyed 
by  the  word  Reconciliation.  Throughout 
Paul's  other  epistles,  the  Forgiveness  of  Sin 

*  Is  it  not  time  to  stop  calling  the  apostles  Saints,  and  to 
speak  of  Matthew,  Mark,  John,  and  Paul,  without  degrading  them 
with  this  Roman  Catholic  title  ?  We  never  hear  a  minister  say, 
"  Let  us  read  from  the  Epistle  of  Saint  Paul,"  or  "  Saint  Peter," 
without  feeling  that  a  true  reverence  for  those  great  men  ought 
to  show  itself  by  following  their  own  gospel  simplicity.  They 
called  ALL  believers  "  Saints,"  "  holy;  "  for  all  believers  were 
one  in  Christ,  and  partaking  of  his  holiness  by  faith.  We  discard, 
so  far,  their  own  idea  of  Christianity  when  we  separate  them  from 
their  brethren  by  such  titles  of  honor. 


14  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

is  a  prominent  idea.  Thus  (Ephes.  i.  7),  "  In 
whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins. '^^  (Ephes.  iv.  32)  "Be 
ye  kind  to  one  another,  tender-hearted,  for- 
giving one  another,  even  as  God  in  Christ  (or 
by  Christ)  has  forgiven  youP  (Col.  i.  14) 
"  In  whom  we  have  redemption,  even  the  for- 
giveness of  sinsP  (Col.  ii.  13)  "  And  you, 
being  dead  in  your  sins,  hath  he  made  alive 
with  him,  having  forgiven  you  all  trespasses^ 
So  (Col.  iii.  13),  too,  he  tells  them  to  forgive 
one  another,  even  as  Christ  forgave  them. 
We  see,  therefore,  from  such  passages,  that, 
while  the  hoj)e  of  forgiveness  was  presented 
by  Paul  as  a  leading  motive  to  induce  men 
to  become  Christians,  he  also  appeals  to  their 
consciousness  of  being  forgiven  as  a  main  mo- 
tive to  induce  them  to  live  as  Christians. 
Future  forgiveness  is  a  motive  to  repentance ; 
past  forgiveness  is  a  motive  to  Love.  This, 
we  see,  corresponds  again  with  the  declaration 
of  Jesus,  that  the  woman  loved  much  "  because 
she  had  been  forgiven  much." 


STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION.  15 

§  5.    And  by  the  other  Apostles. 

The  other  Apostles,  in  their  writings,  lay- 
equal  stress  upon  this  doctrine.  The  author 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (whose  purpose 
is  to  show  that  the  Jew  loses  nothing  of  real 
value  when  he  becomes  a  Christian)  teaches 
that  the  essential  advantage  and  meaning  of 
the  priesthood  and  the  temple-worship  is  re- 
placed by  something  in  Christianity  which  is, 
in  relation  to  these,  like  the  Substance  to  the 
Shadow.  Christ  therefore,  he  says,  "is  our 
High  Priest,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the 
sins  of  the  people."  "  He  is  our  sacrifice  (or 
covenant-offering)  for  the  redemption  of  our 
transgression"  (Heb.  ix.  15) ;  and  "the  media- 
tor of  that  new  covenant,  of  which  God  had 
said,  that  in  it  he  would  be  merciful  to  the 
unrighteousness  of  Israel,  and  their  sins  and 
iniquities  would  remember  no  more"  (Heb. 
viii.  12 ;  x.  17).  Luther  called  the  Epistle  of 
James  "  an  epistle  of  straw,"  because  James 
lays  stress  on  works,  and  seems  to  contradict 


16  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

the  Pauline  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
alone.  But  even  James  teaches  (v.  15)  that 
by  the  prayer  of  faith  Sins  shall  be  Forgiven. 
The  apostle  Peter,  as  we  might  suppose  from 
his  sermons  in  the  book  of  Acts,  refers  to  the 
same  doctrine  in  his  epistles.  "  Christ  also," 
he  says  (1  Peter,  iii.  18),  "hath  suffered  for 
sins,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  GodP  "  God," 
he  says  (i.  3),  "hath,  by  his  abundant  mercy, 
begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ."  In  the  epistles 
of  John,  the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness  is  quite 
as  prominent.  We  read  (1  John,  i.  9)  that 
"  If  we  confess  our  sins.  He  is  faithful  and 
just  to  forgive  us  our  sinsy  (ii.  2)  "  He  is 
the  propitiation  of  our  siiisJ^  (ii.  12)  "  I  write 
unto  you,  little  children,  because  your  sins  are 
forgivenP  And  (iv.  10)  "  Herein  is  Love, 
not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us, 
and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins,''^  John  also  teaches  (iv.  19),  "  We 
love  him  because  he  first  loved  us,"  agreeing 
with  Jesus  and  the   apostle    Paul   in   repre- 


STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION.  17 

senting  Forgiveness  as  a  motive  to  Christian 
Love. 

§  6.    Necessary  to  Peace  and  Progress. 

Not  only  dqes  the  importance  of  this  doc- 
trine appear  from  the  prominent  place  which 
it  occupies  in  the  Christian  Scriptures,  but 
also  from  its  necessity  for  peace  and  progress. 
The  mind  which  is  weighed  down  with  a 
sense  of  sin  can  have  no  peace.  The  mind 
that  is  destitute  of  peace  can  make  no  prog- 
ress. Anxiety  and  doubt  unnerve  the  wilL 
There  must  be  inward  composure,  or  there 
can  be  no  moral  energy.  Every  thing  which 
distracts  or  divides  the  mind  weakens  its 
powers.  And,  to  accomplish  any  thing  well, 
we  must  be  able  to  "  forget  the  things  behind, 
and  reach  out  to  those  before."  The  man 
who  is  looking  back  with  regret  at  the  failure 
of  past  enterprises  will  not  engage  with  energy 
in  new  ones.  The  man  who  is  looking  back 
with  remorse  at  past  violations  of  duty  will 
not  fulfil  his  present  duties  with  that  joyful 
2 


18  STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION. 

energy  which  alone  does  duty  well.  Accord- 
ingly, we  find,  throughout  all  Christian  expe- 
rience, that  the  peace  which  comes  from  a 
conviction  of  pardoned  sin  is  one  of  the  essen- 
tial motives  to  Christian  progress. 

§  7.    The  Moral  Law  hy  itself  may  make  men  worse. 

This  brings  us  to  a  profound  truth  of  hu- 
man nature,  namely,  that  to  enlighten  the 
conscience  by  the  moral  law,  instead  of  mak- 
ing man  morally  better,  may  often  make  him 
worse.  We  all  know  that  the  conscience, 
when  unenlightened  or  misinformed,  may  lead 
to  crime;  and  that  men  (like  the  apostle 
Paul)  have  "verily  thought  that  they  ought 
to  "  persecute  heretics  and  burn  errorists.  But 
the  apostle  Paul  was  the  first  to  recognize 
the  fact,  which  no  one  since  his  time  has 
dared  to  state  as  plainly  as  himself,  that 
moral  teaching  by  itself ,  instead  of  strengthen- 
ing, may  weaken  the  moral  energies.  "  The 
law,"  he  says,  "  is  holy,  just,  and  good ; "  but 
"  though  ordained  for  life,  it  becomes  death  " 


STATE   OP  THE   QUESTION.  19 

ill  consequence  of  human  weakness  (Rom. 
vii.  8 — 13).  "Sin,"  he  says,  ^^ takes  occasion 
by  the  commandment,"  and,  being  dead  before 
the  moral  law  comes,  is  developed  by  it, 
and  becomes  active.  And,  still  more  for- 
cibly, "  The  strength  of  sin  is  the  law " 
(1  Cor.  XV.).  The  way  in  which  this  takes 
place  is  plain.  The  law  (that  is,  the  sight 
of  moral  truth)  arouses  the  conscience,  and 
shows  us  our  duty,  but  does  not  give  us 
strength  to  perform  it.  It  produces  a  dispro- 
portion between  our  moral  powers  and  our 
moral  aims.  In  order  that  we  may  make 
moral  progress,  two  things  are  necessary,  —  a 
new  aim,  and  a  new  power;  a  clearer  sight 
of  what  we  ought  to  be,  and  stronger  motive 
to  induce  us  to  become  it.  Now,  the  moral 
law  only  fulfils  one  of  these  conditions.  It 
shows  us  what  we  ought  to  be.  We  endeavor 
to  obey  it,  and  may  succeed  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, but  never  wholly;  for  the  moral  law 
demands  perfect  obedience,  and  consequently 
it  always  leaves  us  with  a  sense  of  failure. 


IK 


20  STATE   OP  THE   QUESTION. 

This,  of  itself,  unnerves  us.  But  more  than 
this.  It  sets  before  us  duties  which  are  op- 
posed to  our  wishes,  and  which  we  do  not 
even  try  to  fulfil.  This  leaves  us  not  only 
with  a  sense  of  failure,  but  with  a  sense  of  sin, 
of  guilt.  But  a  sense  of  guilt  no  one  can 
endure ;  and,  to  escape  from  it,  we  must  stifle 
the  voice  of  conscience,  cease  to  think  of  duty, 
and  plunge  recklessly  into  that  other  kind  of 
satisfaction  which  comes  from  the  gratifica- 
tion of  desire.  Consequently,  we  go  further 
into  guilt  than  we  should  have  done  if  the 
conscience  had  not  been  enlightened  at  all. 
Much  more  might  be  added  upon  this  subject; 
but  for  our  present  purpose  this  must  sufiice. 
We  see  that  to  awaken  the  conscience,  and 
to  enlighten  it  by  the  sight  of  a  high  moral 
standard,  is  the  first  and  essential  condition 
of  moral  progress.  But  we  see  also,  that,  in 
order  eiSectually  to  make  progress,  a  second 
condition  must  be  fulfilled ;  otherwise,  instead 
of  becoming  better,  one  may  be  made  worse. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  take  the  first 


STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION.  21 

step,  bat  still  more  necessary  to  take  the 
second.  And  this  second  step  is  taken  by- 
means  of  the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness.  The 
law  teaches  duty,  and  awakens  conscience. 
The  gospel  offers  pardon,  and  creates  Love. 
The  first  gives  us  aim ;  the  second,  power.  The 
way  in  which  this  is  effected  we  shall  show 
hereafter. 

§  8.    The  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness  is  attended  with  difficulties. 

But  though  the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness 
is  thus  prominent  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  is  thus  important  for  the  development 
of  the  Christian  character,  it  is  attended  with 
difficulties.  What  is  forgiveness  ?  We  know 
what  forgiveness  is  when  predicated  of  man ; 
but  how  can  we  say  in  any  like  sense  that 
God  forgives?  When  man  forgives  an  insult 
or  an  injury,  we  know  what  it  means.  It 
means  either  that  he  ceases  to  be  angry  with 
the  offender,  or  that  he  remits  the  punishment 
of  the  offence,  or  both.  When  the  execution- 
ers who  were  about  to  kindle  the  pile  which 


22'  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

was  to  consume  the  Maid  of  Orleans  asked 
her  forgiveness,  they  did  not  mean  to  ask  her 
for  a  remission  of  punishment^  for  they  were 
not  exposed  to  any  punishment :  they  meant 
to  ask  that  she  should  not  he  offended  with 
them  for  what  they  were  compelled  to  do. 
But  when  a  condemned  criminal  asks  forgive- 
ness of  the  executive  power,  he  does  not  ask 
that  the  King  or  Governor,  in  whose  hand 
mercy  lies,  shall  not  he  angry  with  him  ;  for  he 
knows  that  they  entertain  no  such  feeling. 
He  asks  for  a  remission  of  the  penalty  of  his 
crime.  *  Now,  it  would  seem  at  first  sight  that 
the  Deity  cannot  be  expected  to  forgive  the 
sinner  in  either  of  these  ways.  Not  by  ceas- 
ing to  be  angry;  for  he  never  was  angry. 
Not  by  remitting  the  penalty ;  for  the  penalty 
is  not  an  arbitrary  infliction,  but  the  natural 
and  necessary  consequence  of  the  offence. 
When  God  is  said  to  be  angry,  when  his 
wrath  is  spoken  of,  whatever  it  means,  it  can- 
not mean  any  thing  like  human  passion. 
Such  passion  is  inconsistent  with  the  essential 


STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION.  23 

attributes  of  Deity;  for  it  implies  weakness, 
suffering,  and  selfish  irritation.  But  if  God's 
anger  be  a  holy  indignation,  or  the  necessary 
aversion  with  which  a  holy  nature  contem- 
plates sin,  then  it  would  appear  that  this 
anger  cannot  cease  until  the  sinner  is  alto- 
gether purified.  And  if  punishment  be  the 
natural  consequence  of  sin;  if,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  evil  conduct  must  deprave 
the  character,  pollute  the  mind,  harden  the 
heart, — how  can  we  expect  these  consequences 
to  be  remitted?  Can  the  wicked  be  made 
happy  until  they  be  made  holy?  Can  we 
enjoy  an  outward  Heaven  until  we  have 
Heaven  within  us?  And  must  not  each 
man's  happiness,  here  and  hereafter,  depend 
upon  the  precise  degree  of  his  moral  character 
and  moral  attainments  ?  If,  then,  forgiveness 
means  either  the  cessation  of  God's  holy 
indignation  against  sin,  or  the  remission  of 
the  penalty  of  sin,  which  is  its  natural  attend- 
ant, it  would  seem  that  the  one  kind  of 
forgiveness   is   forbidden   by   the   nature    of 


24  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

God,  and  the  other  by  the  nature  of  man ; 
and  that,  therefore,  forgiveness  of  sin  is  an 
impossibility. 

§  9.    The  same  Difficulties  in  the  New  Testament. 

If  now  we  turn  to  the  New  Testament,  we 
meet  with  the  same  difficulty  there.  The 
doctrine  of  Forgiveness  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
plainly  taught.  But  other  things  are  also 
taught,  which  seem,  at  first  view,  inconsistent 
with  it.  We  read,  indeed,  that  God  loves  the 
sinner ;  for  we  are  told  that  his  Love  for  the 
sinner  was  the  original  cause  of  the  coming 
of  Christ,  and  that  the  salvation  of  the  sinner 
was  the  final  cause  of  Christ's  coming.  We 
read  that  "  God  reconciles  us,  when  sinners, 
to  Himself;"  and  "that,  when  we  were  sin- 
ners, Christ  died  for  us."  The  joy  in  Heaven 
over  one  sinner  who  repents,  shows  the  yearn- 
ing love  toward  the  impenitent,  which  dwells 
in  heavenly  minds.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  read,  in  equally  plain  and  distinct  lan- 
guage, that  the  wrath  of  God  abides  on  the 


STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION.  26 

impenitent ;  that  "  indignation  and  wrath, 
tribulation  and  anguish,"  come  by  the  right- 
eous judgment  of  God  upon  "every  soul  that 
doeth  evU."  A  sound  criticism  must  admit, 
and  seek  for  the  meaning  of  both  these  classes 
of  texts,  and  explain  away  neither.  The  in- 
dignation against  the  sinner,  ascribed  to  God, 
must  be  consistent  with  his  Love  for  the  sin- 
ner; and  his  Love  must  consist  with  this 
Indignation.  It  must  therefore  be  an  aversion, 
or  an  estrangement  from  the  sinner,  only 
because  of  his  sin,  and  only  while  he  con- 
tinues in  sin.  But,  inasmuch  as  the  sincerely 
penitent  have  sin  still  clinging«.to  them,  and 
are  not  wholly  free  from  it,  the  difficulty 
which  remains  is  this :  How  can  that  Recon- 
ciliation to  God,  which  is  God  dwelling  in 
us,  and  we  in  him,  and  by  which  we  become 
"  partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature,"  take  place 
(which  is  promised  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  is  implied  in  forgiveness),  so  long  as  we 
continue  to  any  degree  sinners?  Though 
God  is  not  angry  with  us  with  the  anger  of 


26  STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION. 

human  passion,  must  he  not  be  and  continue 
estranged  from  us  by  the  anger  of  divine 
holiness,  just  so  far  and  so  long  as  any  degree 
of  sin  remains  in  us  ?  It  would  seem,  there- 
fore, from  the  Scripture,  that  the  holiness 
therein  ascribed  to  the  Divine  Nature  must 
prevent  him  from  being  wholly  reconciled  to 
man,  while  man  remains  to  any  extent  a  sin- 
ner. But,  according  to  the  same  Scripture 
(Rom.  V.  10),  "  We  were  reconciled  to  God 
when  enemies."  Here,  then,  we  find  the  same 
apparent  contradiction,  or  antinomy,  in  the 
Scripture  which  we  before  found  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  sitbject  itself. 

§  10.    Which  seems  to  declare  that  Forgiveness  in  either  sense 
is  impossible. 

"We  have  seen  that  we  know  only  two 
kinds  of  forgiveness,  —  one  of  which  removes 
alienation  of  feeling,  and  the  other  removes 
the  external  penalty.  We  have  seen,  more- 
over, that  the  New  Testament  opposes  diffi- 
culties to  the  supposition  that  God  forgives 
us  in  the  first  sense.     But  it  presents   still 


STATE   OP  THE   QUESTION.  27 

greater  difficulties  to  the  supposition  that 
God  forgives  us  by  removing  the  external 
penalty.  The  New  Testament  plainly  teaches 
a  fixed  and  certain  Retribution  for  aU ;  peni- 
tent and  impenitent ;  believers  and  unbeliev- 
ers; those  who  are  forgiven,  and  those  who 
are  not.  We  read  that  "we  shall  all  stand 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  ever^ 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body, 
according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be 
good  or  bad  "  (2  Cor.  v.  10 ;  Rom.  xiv.  10 — 
12).  We  read  that  God  "will  render  to  every 
man  according  to  his  deeds,"  and  that  "  every 
one  of  us  shall  give  an  account  of  himself  to 
God."  We  are  also  taught  in  one  parable 
(Luke  xix.  13)  the  principle  of  Retribution; 
and  in  another  (Matt.  xxv.  14)  the  principle 
of  Accountability.*    According  to  the  first,  we 

*  It  is  often  taken  for  granted  that  the  Parable  of  the  ten 
Pounds  (Luke,  xix.  13),  and  that  of  the  Talents  (Matt.  xxv.  14), 
convey  the  same  doctrine.  But  it  is  evident  the  one  teaches  the 
Law  of  Retribution^  and  the  other  the  Law  of  Accountability.  In 
the  first,  the  trust  committed  to  each  is  the  same  (ten  pounds  to 
ten  servants) ;  but  the  improvement  of  each  is  difierent,  and  the 
yeward  different.    In  the  second,  the  original  trust  confided  to 


28  STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION. 

are  rewarded  hereafter  according  to  the  exact 
degree  in  which  we  have  improved  the  talents, 
means,  opportunities,  faculties,  of  which  we 
are  the  stewards.  According  to  the  other, 
we  are  to  account  according  to  the  different 
amount  and  quality  of  these  talents.  To 
whom  much  has  been  given,  of  him  will 
much  be  required.  This  Retribution  is  not 
arbitrary,  but  is  compared  to  the  most  certain 
and  inflexible  operations  of  nature.  "  Be  not 
deceived ;  God  is  not  mocked :  whatsoever  a 
man  sowetJi,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  He  who 
soweth  to  the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  cor- 
ruption; but  he  that  soweth  to  the  spirit, 
from  the  spirit  shall  reap  Eternal  Life"  (Gal. 
vi.  8).  In  the  book  of  Revelation  (xx.  12,  13) 
we  read  that  "the  books  were  opened,  and 
every  man  judged  out  of  the  things  written 
in  the  books,  according  to  their  works."     It 

each  is  different ;  but  the  proportionate  gain  is  the  same,  and  the 
reward  the  same.  A  parable  miff  hi  have  been  constructed  which 
would  have  included  both  doctrines,  but  it  would  have  been  too 
complicated ;  and  Jesus,  with  his  usual  wisdom,  separated  what 
he  had  to  say,  and  taught  part  on  one  occasion,  and  the  othei 
part  on  another 


STATE   OP  THE   QUESTION.  29 

seemsj  therefore,  that  Scripture  plainly  teaches, 
what  we  have  already  seen  to  be  reasonable, 
that  every  action,  good  or  evil,  brings  after  it 
an  inevitable  consequence.  The  consequence 
in  the  one  case  is  Eternal  Life ;  that  is,  as  I 
suppose,  an  elevation  and  striengthening  of 
the  immortal  Principle.  The  good  action 
re-acts  upon  the  character  by  a  fixed  law  to 
make  it  better.  It  brings  an  access  of  faith 
and  love,  which  qualifies  us  for  higher  action 
and  deeper  enjoyment.  We  "sow  to  the 
spirit,  and  of  the  spirit  reap"  spiritual  or 
eternal  Life.  The  consequence  in  the  other 
case  is  as  unerring.  The  bad  action  also  re- 
acts upon  the  character.  He  who  sows  to  the 
flesh  reaps  corruption.  Every  higher  faculty 
decays.  The  power  of  insight  is  dulled. 
Love  is  frozen  in  the  heart.  Faith  in  God, 
in  things  unseen,  in  universal  ideas,  in  the 
Right,  the  Good,  the  Beautiful,  dies  out  of 
the  soul.  The  Retribution  is  sure  and  cer- 
tain ;  certain  as  the  law  of  gravitation.  For- 
giveness cannot  remit  this  penalty ;  for  what 


30  STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION. 

remission  of  penalty  will  change  the  charac- 
ter ?  Can  one  who  is  stained,  weakened, 
defiled  by  sin,  gain  any  thing  by  being  taken 
from  an  outward  Hell,  and  placed  in  an 
outward  Heaven?  He  would  rather  lose 
thereby ;  for  to  such  an  one  Hell  is  more  sat- 
isfactory than  Heaven.*  Just  so,  the  depraved 
taste  of  a  vulgar  mind  finds  more  pleasure  in . 
coarse  and  profane  society  than  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  pure. 

§  11.    Such  apparent  Contradictions  the  token  of  the  presence 
of  large  Truths. 

We  are  therefore  brought  to  this  conclu- 
sion. On  the  one  hand.  Reason  demands 
and  Scripture  teaches  a  doctrine  of  Forgive- 
ness; and,  on  the  other,  Reason  and  Scrip- 
ture  deny   that    Forgiveness   is    possible    in 

*  Which  is  well  illustrated  by  Swedenborg  in  one  of  his  mem- 
orable relations.  He  states  that  a  person  in  one  of  the  Hells 
tj^ought  himself  unjustly  treated,  and  wished  to  be  in  Heaven. 
Whereupon  the  angels  were  allowed  to  take  him  up  there,  to 
show  him  his  error.  No  sooner  was  he  placed  in  Heaven  than 
he  fell  down,  writhing  with  pain  and  in  great  agony;  which 
was  only  relieved  by  his  being  taken  back  "  to  his  own  place," 
when  he  became  comparatively  comfortable.  We  quote  from 
memory. 


STATE   OP  THE   QUESTION.  31 

either  of  the  usual  meanings  of  the  term. 
But  such  apparent  contradictions  are  every- 
where to  be  found  in  the  domain  of  Truth, 
and  like  paradoxes  are  constant  in  the  Scrip- 
ture. Truths,  indeed,  are  never  really  contra- 
dictory to  each  other;  but  they  seem  so 
because  they  are  antagonist.  As  the  whole 
movement  of  the  human  body  is  carried  on 
by  means  of  antagonist  muscles;  as  the 
movement  of  the  planets  round  the  sun  is 
maintained  by  constant  antagonist  forces ;  as 
the  mental  and  moral  constitution  of  man 
consists  throughout  of  antagonist  faculties,  so 
in  the  world  of  Truth  we  find  the  same  law 
of  Polarity,  and  God  "has  set  everywhere 
two  against  two."  It  is  only  by  the  percep- 
tion of  these  antagonisms  that  any  progress 
is  possible  in  true  knowledge.  We  must  see 
the  contradiction  before  we  can  find  its  solu- 
tion. We  must  see  the  Thesis  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Antithesis  on  the  other,  before 
we  can  find  the  higher  Synthesis  which  in- 
cludes the  two.     It  is  not  by  ignoring  such 


32  STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION. 

difficulties,  but  by  distinctly  recognizing  them, 
that  we  make  a  truly  scientific  progress.  The 
charge  sometimes  brought  against  Scripture, 
that  it  furnishes  proof-texts  for  both  sides  of 
every  question,  is  in  fact  its  highest  praise ; 
for  it  shows  that  Scripture  is  wide  and  deep 
as  Nature.  Nature,  too,  furnishes  proof-texts 
on  both  sides  of  every  question.  When  we 
meet,  therefore,  with  these  apparent  contra- 
dictions, we  are  to  regard  them  as  locked 
doors,  by  which,  when  we  have  found  their 
key,  we  shall  have  access  to  a  higher  plane  of 
thought. 

§  12.    Truths  which  God  has  joined  together,  man  must  not  put 
asunder. 

But  hitherto  it  has  happened,  that,  instead 
of  recognizing  both  sides  of  the  truth  in  rela- 
tion to  the  subject  before  us,  opposing  parties 
in  the  Church  have  taken  possession  each  of 
a  single  truth,  and  passed  by  the  other.  One 
party,  calling  itself  Orthodox  and  Evangeli- 
cal, has  inculcated  the  doctrine  of  Forgive- 
ness.    Another  party,  calling  itself  Rational, 


STATE  OF  THE  QUESTION.  33 

Liberal,  or  Spiritual,  has  inculcated  the  doc- 
trine of  Retribution.  The  Orthodox  have  not 
denied  Retribution ;  but  they  have  neglected 
and  undervalued  it.  The  Liberals,  or  Ration- 
alists, have  not  denied  Forgiveness,  but  have 
undervalued  it.  In  both  cases,  one  doctrine 
has  been  understated;  and,  as  a  necessary- 
consequence,  the  other  doctrine  has  been  over- 
stated. For  it  is  also  true  here  that  man 
must  not  put  asunder  what  God  has  joined 
together.  And  when  antagonist  truths  are 
divorced,  each  is  mutilated.  In  the  old  fable 
of  Eros  and  Anteros,  neither  the  human  nor 
divine  brother  could  thrive  alone ;  and  so  in 
the  world  of  Truth,  in  the  world  of  Knowl- 
edge, each  truth  fades  in  the  absence  of  its 
opposite  truth.  In  the  moral  world,  every 
virtue  needs  an  antagonist  virtue  for  its  own 
perfection.  Courage  without  caution  is  not 
courage,  but  rashness ;  caution  without  cour- 
age is  not  caution,  but  cowardice.  Gener- 
osity without  prudence  is  not  generosity,  but 
extravagance.  Humility  without  self-respect 
3 


84  STATE   OP   THE   QUESTION. 

is  not  humility,  but  meanness.  Self-respect 
without  humility  is  not  self-respect,  but  pride. 
So  we  might  go  through  all  the  virtues,  and 
show  that  each,  by  destroying  its  antagonist 
virtue,  destroys  itself.  The  same  law  prevails 
in  the  domain  of  Truth ;  for  this  law  of  sym- 
metry seems  universal. 

§  13.    The  Orthodox  do  not  teach  fiill  Retribution. 

The  party  of  thinkers  in  the  Christian 
Church,  usually  called  Orthodox  or  Evangeli- 
cal, have,  we  have  said,  in  their  love  for  the 
doctrine  of  Forgiveness,  not  done  adequate 
justice  to  the  doctrine  of  Retribution.  They 
have  not  taught  with  sufficient  emphasis,  that 
saints,  no  less  than  sinners,  are  to  give  an 
account  of  themselves  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, and  to  be  rewarded  and  punished 
according  to  their  works.  The  idea  conveyed 
by  their  teaching  is,  that  a  sinner,  at  the  close 
of  an  evil  life,  may  be  converted  (which  is 
true) ;  and  that,  being  converted,  all  the  con- 
sequences of  his  past  sins  are  removed,  which 


STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION.  35 

nothing  in  the  Scripture  confirms.  They 
have  taught  that  repentance,  and  faith  in  the 
Atoning  Sacrifice  of  Christ,  will  at  any  time 
procure  for  sinner  or  saint  a  forgiveness 
which  obliterates  all  the  penalties  of  evil  do- 
ing. But  such  a  forgiveness  as  this  is  evi- 
dently inconsistent  with  Retribution,  and  the 
effect  of  such  a  view  is  dangerous  and  per- 
nicious. Many  men  will  postpone  repentance 
till  the  end  of  life,  if  they  believe  that  pardon 
at  that  time  will  remove  all  the  consequences 
of  past  sin.  Such  is  in  fact  the  case;  and 
the  only  argument  urged  by  the  pulpit  against 
such  procrastination  is,  that  one  may  die 
suddenly  without  an  opportunity  for  ade- 
quate repentance.  The  true  argument  would 
be,  that  every  hour  in  which  the  real  work  of 
life  is  postponed  is  so  much  actually  and  for 
ever  lost.  Every  moment  given  to  sin  re- 
ceives an  immediate  and  permanent  penalty 
in  so  much  loss  of  moral  Life.  But  another 
pernicious  result  of  this  false  view  of  forgive- 
ness is  seen  in  the  low  spiritual  condition  of 


36  STATE   OF   THE    QUESTION. 

the  Christian  Church.  Believing  the  whole 
of  Salvation  to  be  contained  in  forgiveness, 
and  forgiveness  to  be  conveyed  exclusively  by 
penitence  and  faith,  the  Church  has  occupied 
itself  with  these  exercises  alone,  and  not  car- 
ried Christianity  into  every-day  duties,  and 
into  all  parts  of  life.  Hence  we  have  seen 
men  living  like  Christians  at  church  and  on 
Sunday,  living  like  Pagans  out  of  church  on 
Monday;  praying  Christians  in  their  church, 
covetous  Christians  in  their  shop,  ill-tempered 
Christians  in  their  family.  Hence  we  have 
seen  aristocratic  churches,  and  fashionable 
churches  with  room  only  for  the  rich ;  Eccle- 
biastical  conventions  condemning  dancing, 
but  refusing  to  condemn  Slavery;  Monu- 
ments erected  in  Christian  Cathedrals  to  sol- 
diers, excellent  only  for  their  skill  and  success 
in  slaughtering  their  fellow-men.  If  those 
who  for  conscience'  sake  submit  cheerfully  to 
suffering  rather  than  disobey  God  declare 
plainly  that  they  believe  in  a  judgment  to 
come,  those  who  do   such  things  as   I  have 


STATE   OF  THE   QUESTION.  37 

spoken  of  declare  as  plainly  that  they  believe 
in  none.  A  few  years  since,  an  eminent 
statesman,  who  had  plunged  his  country  into 
war  with  a  neighboring  state,  the  object  of 
which  was  evidently  the  acquisition  of  terri- 
tory, and  who  had  justified  this  war  by  most 
manifest  falsehoods,  when  about  to  die,  was 
extremely  anxious  to  be  baptized;  and,  this 
rite  having  been  performed,  and  having  ex- 
pressed his  belief  in  forgiveness  through  the 
Atonement,  passed  tranquilly  out  of  the 
world.  Neither  himself  nor  his  spiritual  ad- 
viser seems  to  have  felt  any  anxiety  lest  the 
war,  for  which  he  was  responsible,  might  have 
been  unnecessary.  They  evidently  thought 
that  this  question  had  far  less  to  do  with  his 
preparation  for  Eternity  than  that  of  his  bap- 
tism. So  long  as  these  views  of  Retribution 
are  held,  so  long  must  the  standard  of  char- 
acter in  the  Christian  Church  be  low. 

§  14.    Nor  the  Liberalists  full  Forgiveness. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  party  of  thinkers  in 
the    Church,  sometimes   called    Rational    or 


3S  STATE   OP   THE   QUESTION. 

Liberal  Christians,  have  not  always  done 
adequate  justice  to  the  doctrine  of  Forgive- 
ness. Believing  strongly  in  the  moral  law, 
they  have  maintained  correctly  the  doctrine 
of  Retribution.  Believing  also  in  moral  free- 
dom, they  have  taught  that  each  man's  des- 
tiny depended  on  the  fidelity  with  which  he 
exercised  it.  And,  believing  in  the  justice  of 
God,  it  seemed  to  them  impossible  that  he 
could  remove  the  consequences  of  sin,  on 
account  of  the  single  act  of  penitence  or 
faith,  and  make  those  who  had  wrought  a 
single  hour  equal  with  those  who  had  borne 
the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day.  They  have 
seen,  that,  in  this  world,  success  depends  not 
upon  single  efforts,  but  upon  patient  continu- 
ance in  well-doing.  They  have,  therefore,  re- 
jected the  common  doctrine  of  forgiveness. 
But,  inasmuch  as  forgiveness  of  sin  is  evi- 
dently taught  in  the  Bible,  they  have  ex- 
plained it  as  meaning  this ;  that,  when  a  man 
has  repented  of  any  course  of  evil  conduct, 
and  has  reformed  his  character  so  as  to  be  as 


STATE   OF   THE   QUESTION.  39 

good  a  man  as  he  was  before,  he  will  be  as 
happy  a  man  as  he  was  before.  But  this 
doctrine  of  forgiveness  differs  from  that  of 
the  New  Testament  in  several  points.  First, 
it  is  a  future  forgiveness,  whereas  that  of  the 
New  Testament  is  present.  Secondly,  its 
condition  is  reformation,  or  entire  change  of 
character;  whereas  the  condition  of  forgive- 
ness in  the  New  Testament  is  repentance,  or 
change  of  purpose,  and  the  act  of  faith  which 
attends  repentance.  And,  thirdly,  this  forgive- 
ness is  not  given  by  God,  but  earned  by  our- 
selves ;  and  it  proceeds,  not  from  the  mercy, 
but  the  mere  justice,  of  the  Deity.  The 
practical  evils  resulting  from  this  defective 
view  of  forgiveness  are  the  reverse  of  those 
resulting  from  defective  views  of  retribution. 
As  the  Christian  life  is  weakened  by  the  one 
in  its  sense  of  accountability,  so  it  is  weak- 
ened by  the  other  in  its  sense  of  dependence. 
The  one  defect  palsies  effort ;  the  other  weak- 
ens love.  We  need  the  doctrine  of  a  present 
forgiveness  of  sin,  to  create   in  the   soul   a 


40  STATE   OP  THE   QUESTION. 

sense  of  the  immediate  love  of  God.  We 
need  to  feel  that  God  gives  us  forgiveness 
now,  not  that  he  will  give  it  to  us  hereafter. 
We  need  to  be  reconciled  and  made  at  one 
with  him,  before  we  can  have  the  strength 
necessary  to  enable  us  to  work  out  our  salva- 
tion. The  New  Testament  motive  is  not, 
"  Do  good  that  you  may  he  forgiven,"  but  "  Do 
good  because  you  have  been  forgiven."  "  Be 
kind  to  one  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving 
one  another,  even  as  God  in  Christ  has  for- 
given youP — "Brethren,  if  God  so  loved  us, 
we  ought  also  to  love  one  another." 

We  have  thus  considered  the  importance  of 
the  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness,  and  the  difficul- 
ties which  surround  it,  —  difficulties  which 
have  caused  different  parties  of  thinkers  to 
omit  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  Divine  Law. 
Let  us  now  pass  on  to  inquire  what  the  true 
Doctrine  of  Forgiveness  is. 


PART  II. 


THE  NATURE  OF  FORGIVENESS. 


§  15.    What  is  Forgiveness  ? 

Having  thus  considered  the  importance  of  the 
Doctrine  of  Forgiveness,  and  the  difficulties 
which  attend  the  doctrine  as  it  is  usually 
taught,  we  proceed  to  ask  whether  these  diffi- 
culties can  be  removed.  And  the  first  step 
to  be  taken  is  to  analyze  anew  the  notion  of 
Forgiveness.  What  is  it?  What  do  we 
mean  by  it?  What  is  necessarily  included 
in  it  ?  In  any  controversy  or  difficult  inquiry, 
a  great  deal  is  often  gained  by  a  careful  anal- 
ysis of  the  terms  under  discussion.  Unless 
this  is  done,  a  controversy  may  be  indefinitely 
protracted,  and  no  step  taken  toward  its  final 

[41] 


42  THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

settlement.  We  often  hear  discussions  of 
questions  like  these :  —  "  Was  Christ  a  literal 
sacrifice  ?  "  "  Was  his  death  a  real  expiation 
of  sin  ?  "  "  Was  it  an  atonement  to  God  ?  " 
In  such  discussions,  both  sides  proceeding  to 
argue,  pro  and  con^  without  first  defining  the 
meaning  of  the  terms  Expiation^  Sacrifice^ 
Atonement y  no  practical  result  is  obtained. 

§  16.    The  Consequences  of  Sin  are  twofold. 

God's  forgiveness  of  sin,  however  much  it 
may  difTer  from  human  forgiveness,  must 
have  some  analogy  with  it ;  for  otherwise  we 
could  not  understand  it.  We  have  seen,  that, 
when  man  forgives  man,  it  is  by  remitting 
one  or  another  of  the  two  penalties  of  the 
offence;  —  one  of  the  penalties  being  anger, 
or  estrangement  from  the  offender ;  the  other 
penalty  being  some  outward  act  of  punish- 
ment, some  external  suffering  or  loss  inflicted 
on  the  offender.  Now,  this  anger  on  the  side 
of  the  injured  party,  and  this  suffering  inflicted 
in  return  upon  the  injurer,  are  the   natural 


THE  NATURE  OF  FORGIVENESS.  43 

consequences  of  the  offence  committed  against 
man.  What  are  the  natural  consequences 
of  the  offence  against  God  ?  They  are  these 
two:  First,  a  sense  of  Divine  displeasure; 
and,  secondly,  a  deterioration  of  the  moral 
character.  As  far  as  the  sinner  himself  is 
concerned,  these  two  are  the  natural,  neces- 
sary, and  'immediate  consequences  of  sin. 
By  a  law  of  his  nature,  the  operation  of  which 
we  shall  look  at  hereafter,  he  feels  himself 
under  the  displeasure  of  God.  Whether  God 
be  displeased,  or  whether  he  be  not  displeased, 
makes  no  difference  so  far  as  this  feeling  is 
concerned.  This  consequence  is  immediate 
and  inevitable.  So,  too,  of  the  other.  The 
question  of  positive  punishment  hereafter 
may  be  omitted,  as  far  as  the  question  of 
immediate,  present  forgiveness  is  concerned. 
The  immediate,  outward  penalty  of  sin  is  the 
present  depravity  of  character,  occasioned  by 
the  formation  of  an  evil  habit.  Now,  we  ask, 
are  either  of  these  consequences  removed  by 
forgiveness  ? 


44  THE  NATURE   OP  FORGIVENESS. 

§  17.    The  first,  a  sense  of  Divine  Displeasure. 

The  sense  of  Divine  displeasure,  which  is 
an  inevitable  consequence  of  every  act  of 
wilful  sin,  is  its  heaviest  penalty.  By  a  law 
of  the  conscience,  as  fixed  as  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation, every  wilful  transgression  produces  in 
the  transgressor's  mind  a  sense  of  Divine  dis- 
pleasure. Just  so  far  as  our  conscience  is 
awake  and  active,  we  feel  on  such  occasions 
that  God,  because  of  his  holiness,  must  regard 
us  with  disapprobation.  This  feeling  pro- 
duces again  estrangement  on  our  part.  Like 
Adam,  we  hide  ourselves  from  God  among 
the  trees  of  the  garden ;  turning  from  spiritual 
things  to  temporal,  and  trying  to  forget  that 
God  sees  us,  by  looking  away  from  him. 
This  leads  us  to  cast  off  fear,  and  restrain 
prayer;  to  cease  from  filial,  affectionate  com- 
munion with  our  Heavenly  Father,  and  to 
say  with  the  Centurion,  "  I  am  not  worthy 
that  thou  shouldst  come  under  my  roof." 
This  state  of  mind  is  described  in  the  New 


THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  46 

Testament  as  "estrangement,"  "alienation," 
"  separation  from  God,"  "  enmity  against 
God."  It  is  enmity,  in  the  sense  of  repug* 
nance,  of  a  dislike  to  think  of  that  which 
gives  us  pain. 

§  18.    Which  is  removed  by  Forgiveness. 

Now,  it  is  evident  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment, that  forgiveness  implies  the  removal  of 
this  first  and  worst  consequence  of  sin.  The 
words  ever)nvhere  used  concerning  it  are 
reconciliation,  peace  with  God,  being  at  one 
with  God,  dwelling  with  God,  and  God  with 
us.  A  happy,  childlike  relation  of  the  soul 
with  God,  in  which  aU  sense  of  Divine  anger 
is  taken  away,  is  immediately  given  to  the 
Christian  believer.  In  this  sense  the  forgive- 
ness of  sin  is  immediate.  "  Being  reconciled 
by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "Being  no  more 
strangers,  but  sons,  "  the  spirit  is  put  in  our 
hearts  by  which  we  cry.  Father."  "  There  is 
now  no  condemnation  to  them  which  are  in 


46  THE   NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

Christ  Jesus;"  and  "through  him  we  have 
'access  by  the  spirit  to  the  Father,"  and  have 
"  confidence  to  come  boldly  to  the  mercy-seat 
for  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need."  Such 
peace  with  God,  such  joy  with  God,  such 
filial  communion  with  God,  is  everjrwhere 
spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  as  belong- 
ing to  forgiven  sin. 

§  19.    Implying  an  objective  Change  also  in  the  mind  of  God. 

But  if  the  subjective  displeasure  of  God, 
that  is,  the  sense  of  it  in  the  human  soul,  is 
thus  removed  by  forgiveness,  the  objective 
displeasure,  or  real  feeling  of  displeasure,  in 
the  mind  of  God,  must  also  be  removed. 
For  he  could  not  make  us  feel  that  he  was 
reconciled  with  us,  if  he  were  not  so.  If  God 
communicates  to  man  the  conviction  of  par- 
don, this  is  sufficient  evidence  that  there  is  no 
alienation  from  man  on  the  part  of  God. 
The  difficulty  remains,  indeed,  to  explain  how 
God  can  be  fully  reconciled,  so  long  as  any 
degree  of  sin  remains  in  the   human  being. 


THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  47 

This  difficulty  I  have  not  forgotten,  and  shall 
attempt  its  solution  hereafter.  But  it  is  quite 
important  to  distinguish  between  a  fact,  and 
the  explanation  of  that  fact.  At  present  we 
have  to  do  with  the  fact,  and  not  its  explana- 
tion. The  fact  before  us  is,  that  there  is  a 
forgiveness  taught  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  confirmed  by  Christian  experience,  which 
removes  every  thing  which  separates  us  from 
the  Divine  Love,  whether  the  obstacle  be  on 
our  part  or  on  the  part  of  the  Deity.  The 
proof  of  this  fact  is  manifest  throughout  the 
New  Testament,  and  written  in  the  whole 
history  of  Christian  experience.  This  for- 
giveness, which  removes  all  sense  of  the 
Divine  displeasure,  is  an  immediate  forgive- 
ness. And  in  this  consists  essentially  the 
whole  meaning  and  blessing  of  pardon.  Par- 
don, therefore,  is  not  a  formal  act  of  the  Divine 
government,  remitting  the  legal  penalty  of 
the  offence,  but  an  actual  change  of  relation 
between  the  human  child  and  his  Heavenly 
Father.     It  is  a  renewal  of  Fatherly  and  filial 


48  THE  NATURE  OP   FORGIVENESS. 

intercourse.  It  is  the  expression  of  love  on 
the  side  of  the  Parent;  the  reception  of  love 
on  the  side  of  the  child. 

§  20.    The  second,  Depravity  of  character,  Forgiveness  does  not 
immediately  remove. 

The  first  consequence  of  sin,  which  is 
separation  from  God,  is  therefore^  removed 
by  forgiveness  immediately.  The  second, 
depravation  of  nature,  is  not  removed  imme- 
diately. There  is  no  evidence  in  the  New 
Testament  that  pardon  removes  directly  the 
vicious  habits,  the  depraved  character,  the 
corrupted  tastes,  the  torpor  of  mind,  the  in- 
firmity of  will,  which  have  resulted  from  the 
practice  of  evil.  In  the  parable  of  the  Prodi- 
gal Son,  the  twofold  penalty  of  sin  is  repre- 
sented by  the  younger  son's  absence  from  his 
Father's  house,  and  the  waste  of  his  substance. 
When  he  was  forgiven,  the  first  consequence 
of  his  sin  was  removed,  but  not  the  second. 
He  received  from  his  Father  every  evidence 
of  a  new  love.  They  were  re-united  in  the 
bonds  of  a  tender  affection;  but  he  did  not 


THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  49 

receive  again  the  patrimony  which  he  had 
wasted.  All  that  Ms  Father  had  was  the 
portion  of  the  elder  son;  but  the  younger 
possessed  again  his  Father's  affection,  and 
this  was  enough.  He  was  willing  to  be  as 
one  of  the  hired  servants.  He  cheerfully  con- 
tinued to  bear  the  outward  penalty  which  he 
had  brought  upon  himself  by  wasting  his 
patrimony. 

But,  though  forgiveness  does  not  remove 
immediately  that  depravity  of  nature  which 
is  the  secondary  consequence  of  sin,  it  re- 
moves it  mediately  and  indirectly  by  giving 
new  energy  to  the  moral  nature.  The  sense 
of  pardon  Creates  a  power  of  grateful  affection 
in  the  heart,  which  enables  it  to  retrace  its 
steps,  rebuild  its  character,  form  new  habits 
of  virtue,  and,  forgetting  the  ignoble  past^ 
reach  forward  to  a  better  future.  As  it  is 
a  law  of  mechanics,  that  what  we  lose  in 
time  we  may  gain  in  power;  so  also  here, 
the  new  power  of  spiritual  life  may  more 
than  compensate  for  many  a  wasted  day. 
4 


50  THE  NATUEE   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

Experience  shows  that  he  who  has  received 
the  conviction  of  forgiven  sin  is  a  new  crea- 
ture. Old  things  have  passed  away,  and  all 
things  have  become  new. 

§  21.    Eecapitulations. 

Let  us  recapitulate  what  we  have  thus  far 
seen.  We  have  seen  that  the  doctrine  of 
Forgiveness  occupied  an  important  place  in 
the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  and  that  it  was 
important  for  human  peace  and  moral  prog- 
ress, but  that  there  were  difficulties  connected 
with  it.  These  difficulties  were  that  forgive- 
ness must  either  mean,  that  God  ceases  to  be 
angry  with  the  sinner,  or  that  he  ceases  to 
punish  the  sinner.  The  first  supposition 
seemed  inconsistent  with  the  moral  character 
of  God ;  for,  if  by  God's  anger  we  understand 
any  thing  akin  to  human  passion,  that  of 
itself  would  imply  imperfection.  Eejecting 
this  supposition,  therefore,  we  must  believe 
the  anger  of  God  to  be  the  repugnance  with 
which  a  holy  being  necessarily  regards   sin, 


THE  NATURE   OP  FORGIVENESS.  51 

and  the  estrangement  of  feeling  with  which 
a  holy  being  necessarily  regards  a  depraved 
one.  This  view,  however,  of  Divine  anger 
creates  a  new  difficulty;  for  how  can  this 
holy  displeasure  cease,  and  man  be  forgiven 
in  this  sense,  so  long  as  he  continues  at  all 
infected  with  the  disease  of  sin?  But  the 
best  of  Christians  is,  to  some  degree,  a  sinner : 
therefore  it  would  seem  that  the  best  of  Chris- 
tians can  never  be  fully  reconciled  to  God. 
The  other  view  of  forgiveness  which  makes 
it  consist  in  the  remission^ of  the  external 
penalty  of  suffering  and  loss,  we  saw,  pre- 
sented still  greater  difficulties.  For  this  loss 
and  suffering  is  not  an  arbitrary  penalty  to  be 
infficted  hereafter,  but  the  present,  immediate, 
and  natural  consequence  of  each  sinful  act. 
Therefore,  notwithstanding  the  difficulty  con- 
nected with  the  first  view  of  forgiveness  (a 
difficulty  not  yet  solved),  we  have  concluded 
that  forgiveness  means  the  direct  and  im- 
mediate removal  of  the  alienation  existing 
oetween  the   sinner   and    the   Deity.      This 


52  THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

alienation  is  both  subjective  and  objective. 
Subjective,  so  far  as  it  is  a  sense  of  God's 
displeasure  in  the  sinner's  mind,  arising  from 
the  action  of  his  own  conscience,  and  causing 
him  to  turn  away  from  God;  —  objective,  so 
far  as  there  is  any  actual  alienation  in  the 
Divine  mind  corresponding  to  it.  Forgive- 
ness, we  have  concluded  from  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  from  the  history 
of  Christian  experience,  must  mean  the  re- 
moval of  this  alienation,  and  not  the  remission 
of  the  outward  penalty.  This  penalty  is  not 
removed  immediately  by  the  act  of  pardon, 
but  indirectly  by  means  of  the  moral  power 
created  anew  in  the  soul  of  the  forgiven  sin- 
ner. 

§  22.    Our  view  of  Forgiveness  satisfies  the  sense  of  Justice. 

This  view  of  forgiveness  completely  satis- 
jfies  both  the  sense  of  justice  and  the  need 
of  pardon.  The  sense  of  justice  is  satisfied ; 
for  the  sinner  is  not  placed  by  forgiveness 
exactly  where  he  was  before.     He  still  has 


THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  53 

to  bear  a  portion  of  the  penalty.  The  law 
of  retribution  holds  on  its  way.  Its  con- 
sequences are  not  suspended  nor  annulled. 
As  he  has  sown,  so  he  reaps.  His  posi- 
tion in  the  moral  universe,  his  moral  growth, 
power,  capacity,  is  the  exact  result  of  his 
fidelity  to  conscience,  of  his  loyalty  to  duty. 
He  who  by  means  of  his  pound  has  gained 
one  pound  is  made  ruler  over  a  single  city. 
He  who  has  gained  five  pounds  is  made 
ruler  over  five  cities.  The  man  who  has 
pursued  a  course  of  vice  through  a  long 
life,  and  then  repents,  is  not  made  equal 
with  him  who  has  passed  from  innocent 
childhood  through  a  virtuous  youth,  and  a 
manhood  whose  strength  has  been  devoted 
to  usefulness.  In  one  respect  only  are  these 
two  equal;  in  their  nearness  to  God,  and 
the  sense  of  his  full  Fatherly  love.  But 
they  differ  in  outward  position,  rank,  pow- 
ers of  usefulness,  capacity  to  serve  their 
Master.  One  is  a  high  Archangel,  near 
his  throne;  the  other  far  down,  in  a  lower 


54  THE   NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

rank  of  the  Heavenly  Hierarchy.  Yet  he 
is  happy  there;  for  his  cup  is  full  of  joy. 
It  is  not  so  large  a  cup  as  it  would  have 
been,  had  he  been  more  faithful;  but  it  is 
fuU. 

§  23.    And  the  Need  of  Pardon. 

The  need  of  pardon  is  also  satisfied  by 
this  view  of  forgiveness.  The  prodigal  Son 
was  willing  to  be  made  as  one  of  the  hired 
servants,  provided  he  could  be  received 
again  to  his  Father's  house  and  heart.  The 
penitent  sinner,  in  like  manner,  accepts  wil- 
lingly the  external  consequences  of  his  sin, 
provided  he  can  be  at  one  with  God,  and 
have  an  ever-present  sense  of  his  Heavenly 
Father's  love.  He  is  even  glad  to  honor 
the  law  which  he  has  outraged,  by  cheerful 
submission  to  its  necessary  penalties.  He 
sees  far  above  him  those  Cherubic  intelli- 
gences, those  Seraphs  of  love,  who  have 
been  faithful  perhaps  in  their  few  things, 
while  he  has  wasted  the  many  gifts  with 
which    he    was     endowed.      He    has     gone 


THE  NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  55 

down,  and  they  have  gone  up.  His  shining 
light  has  grown  dim ;  their  small  candle 
now  blazes  like  a  star  in  the  firmament  of 
God.  But  he  is  well  content  with  this  low 
position  and  small  stewardship ;  amply  com- 
pensated for  this  loss  of  capacity,  power, 
and  office,  by  the  conviction  that  inwardly 
God  is  as  near  to  him  in  love  as  to  them. 
He  has  perhaps  wrought  but  one  hour,  and 
has  been  made  equal  with  those  who  have 
borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  in 
the  full  sense  of  an  all-embracing  Divine 
love.  So,  in  an  earthly  household,  when 
the  wilful  child  comes  to  himself,  and  be- 
comes again  obedient,  he  is  received  with 
a  joy  and  affection  without  limit.  He  has 
an  equal  share  with  all  the  rest  in  the  fam- 
ily affection;  and  no  one  complains  that  he 
has  it,  for  the  joy  of  the  whole  is  increased 
by  his  return.  Thus,  while  in  the  vast 
order  of  the  universe  there  is  rank  above 
rank,  heaven  above  heaven,  thrones,  domin- 
ions, principalities  and  powers. 


56  THE   NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS, 

"Spirits  and  intelligences  fair, 
And  angels  waiting  on  the  Almighty's  chair,"  — 

each,  in  every  part  of  this  order,  partakes 
fully  of  the  Divine  life  which  flows  through 
the  whole.  Or,  to  use  the  image  of  the 
apostle,  —  though  "  there  are  many  mem- 
bers, there  is  but  one  body;"  eye  and  ear 
and  foot,  each  co-operating  in  its  place  for 
the  good  of  the  whole.  Each  member  is 
satisfied  with  its  place  and  duty,  while  it 
is  working  for  the  good  of  the  whole. 
When  the  motive  is  private  advantage, 
there  is  no  content  while  another  stands 
higher  than  one's  self;  but,  when  the  mo- 
tive is  public  good,  one  is  content  with  any 
position  of  real  usefulness,  no  matter  how 
humble  in  appearance ;  for  then  the  gain 
of  the  whole  is  the  gain  of  the  individual. 
We  see  the  operation  of  this  principle  in 
those  associations  which  are  organized  for 
some  great  work.  They  have  an  esprit  de 
corps,  or  corporate  spirit,  which  causes  the 
humblest  member  to  feel  himself  exalted  by 


THE   NATURE   OF   FORGIVENESS.  57 

the  success  of  the  whole.  How  much  niore 
in  that  great  corporation  of  which  Christ 
is  the  head,  and  of  which  the  spirit  of  God 
is  the  pervading  life!  To  the  humblest 
member  of  this  great  society,  —  a  society 
whose  members  on  Earth  and  in  Heaven 
make  one  communion,  with  a  common  ob- 
ject, —  it  may  be  said,  "  All  things  are 
yours ; "  for  you  are  "  heirs  of  God  and 
joint  heirs  with  Christ."  Each  pardoned 
sinner  enters  into  the  full  communion  of 
this  pervading  Love ;  and  the  liquid  element 
of  Love  everywhere  finds  its  level.  It  con- 
stitutes the  true  equality.  It  breaks  down 
all  walls  of  separation.  It  brings  down  the 
high  mountain,  and  fills  up  the  low  valley. 
No  distinctions  of  rank,  power,  or  greatness, 
can  stay  the  flow  of  its  tidal  wave.  For  it 
makes 

"  The  spirit  of  the  worm  beneath  the  sod 
In  love  and  worship  blend  itself  with  God." 


PART    in. 

FAITH  AND  WORKS;  OR,  THE  CONDITION  OF  FOR 
GIYENESS. 


§  24.    Faith,  Works,  a  Forgiving  Spirit,  Repentance,  and  Con- 
fession, as  Conditions  of  Pardon. 

Having  thus  considered  the  nature  of  For- 
giveness, we  next  pass  to  inquire,  "  How  do 
we  obtain  Forgiveness  ? "  The  New  Tes- 
tament seems  to  answer  this  question  in 
different  ways.  According  to  the  Apostle 
Paul,  we  are  justified  by  faith,  and  by  faith 
alone.  According  to  James,  a  man  is  justi- 
fied by  WORKS,  and  not  by  faith  only.  Jesus 
makes  a  disposition  on  our  part  to  forgive, 
the  condition  of  our  being  forgiven  (Matt.  vi. 
15;  Mark,  xi.  26).  And  in  the  parable  of 
the  unforgiving  servant  (Matt.  viii.  23-35), 
we  find  that  the  forgiveness  which  had 
been  received  was  lost  again,  in  conse- 
[58| 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIYENESS.  59 

quence  of  an  unforgiving  spirit  in  the  ser- 
vant. Repentance  is  also  evidently  made 
the  condition  of  forgiveness  in  the  parable 
of  the  prodigal  Son;  and  in  Luke,  xxiv.  47, 
it  is  connected  with  the  remission  of  sin,  as 
it  is  also  in  Peter's  discourses  (Acts,  ii.  38, 
and  Acts,  iii.  19).  Confession  is  elsewhere 
declared  a  condition  of  forgiveness,  as  in 
1  John,  i.  9.  But,  if  we  carefully  consider 
these  passages,  we  shall  find,  that,  when 
any  one  of  them  is  spoken  of  by  itself  as 
a  condition  of  forgiveness,  the  others  are 
supposed  and  implied.  Thus  the  repentance 
of  the  prodigal  Son  proceeded  not  only  from 
a  sense  of  his  misery,  but  from  a  faith  in 
his  Father's  goodness.  "  How  many  hired 
servants  of  my  Father,"  he  says,  "  have 
bread  enough  and  to  spare,  and  I  perish 
with  hunger!"  His  repentance  also  was 
not  complete  till  it  had  shown  itself  in  ac- 
tion and  confession;  till  he  had  gone  to  his 
Father,  and  confessed  to  him  his  sin.  So, 
when  forgiveness  of  others  is  made  a  condi- 


60  FAITH    AND   WORKS,   OR 

tion  of  being  forgiven  ourselves,  it  is  evi- 
dently as  a  test  of  a  true  penitence  and  a 
true  faith.  And,  when  confession  is  made 
a  condition  of  forgiveness,  it  is  apparent,  in 
like  manner,  that  it  is  a  confession,  which, 
proceeding  from  penitence  and  faith,  is  itself 
an  evidence  of  their  presence.  The  two  du- 
ties most  difficult  to  the  natural  man  are 
to  confess  his  own  faults,  and  to  forgive 
the  injuries  he  has  received  from  others. 
These,  therefore,  are  made  the  tests  and 
evidences  of  true  penitence  and  faith. 

§  25.    Faith  or  Works  the  Condition? 

The  only  real  difficulty,  therefore,  on  this 
subject,  is  the  question.  Are  we  forgiven  in 
consequence  of  faith,  or  in  consequence  of 
works?  On  this  question  the  two  apostles 
have  been  thought  to  differ,  and  it  has  been 
a  subject  of  repeated  and  very  animated 
discussion  in  the  Christian  Church.  But 
here  we  see  the  importance  of  defining  the 
terms  in  discussion  before  the  argument  be 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  61 

gins.  Every  thing  depends  on  the  meaning 
of  the  word  forgiveness.  K  the  meaning  be 
given  which  we  have  ourselves  here  ascribed 
to  it,  namely,  the  removal  of  that  estrange- 
ment or  alienation  from  God,  which  is  one 
consequence  of  sin,  then  the  answer  is,  we 
are  forgiven  or  justified  by  faith.  But  if 
by  forgiveness  is  -meant  the  removal  of  that 
depravity  of  character  which  we  have  seen 
to  be  the  other  consequence  of  sin,  then 
the  answer  is,  we  are  justified  by  works. 
And  if  both  of  these  meanings  are  included 
in  the  term  justification,  then  apparently  the 
proper  answer  would  be,  that  we  are  justi- 
fied by  both,  —  by  faith  and  works. 

§  26.    The  Opposition  of  Paul  and  James. 

And  this  is  probably  the  explanation  of 
the  apparent  opposition  between  Paul  and 
James.  When  Paul  speaks  of  justification^ 
he  means  by  it  simply  the  taking  away  of 
the  sense  of  sin,  and  the  reconciliation  of 
the  soul  to  God.     He  means  to  teach  that 


62  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

this  blessedness  of  reconciliation  comes  at 
once  into  the  soul,  as  soon  as  it  is  able  to 
trust  itself  to  the  forgiving  love  of  God. 
He  means  to  oppose  the  idea  that  we  must 
wait  before  receiving  this  blessedness,  until, 
by  laborious  discipline  and  ascetic  culture, 
we  have  conquered  all  sinful  habits.  His 
doctrine  is,  that  we  are  reconciled  to  God, 
that  we  may  reform  our  character,  and  not 
because  we  have  reformed  our  character.  He 
lays,  therefore,  this  stress  on  justification  hy 
faith  alone,  in  order  to  oppose  the  error  of 
that  false  humility  which  says  it  is  not  fit 
to  be  forgiven,  —  of  that  false  conscientious- 
ness, which  thinks  it  has  no  right  to  be  for- 
given, —  and  the  distrust  of  God,  which 
cannot  believe  that  it  will  be  forgiven  till 
by  laborious  process  it  has  removed,  one 
by  one,  every  stain  inhering  in  the  soul. 
Paul,  therefore,  makes  Forgiveness  the  re- 
sult of  Faith  alone,  but  teaches  as  strongly 
that  this  Faith  must  produce  Works,  and 
that  out  of  Forgiveness  must  proceed  Obe« 


THE  CONDITIONS   OP   FORGIVENESS.  63 

dience.  He  teaches  those  whose  sins  have 
been  forgiven,  that  they  are  not  yet  sure  of 
final  salvation,  but  must  "work  out  their 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling."  In  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  gives  a  beauti- 
ful description  of  the  progress  of  religious 
experience  in  the  human  soul.  In  the  first 
two  chapters,  he  describes  the  Moral  Death 
of  Jew  and  Gentile.  In  the  seventh  chap- 
ter, he  describes  the  Struggle  and  Conflict 
in  the  mind  under  the  influence  of  the  Law. 
The  fifteenth  to  the  twenty-fourth  verses  ex- 
press Despair;  the  twenty-fifth  verse.  Peace 
and  Pardon  through  Faith  in  Christ.  The 
first  part  of  the  eighth  chapter  describes  the 
Walk  in  tlie  Spirit;  and  the  last  part.  Full 
Redemption  and  Final  Glory.  Nothing  can 
be  more  profound,  or  more  true  to  human 
experience,  than  the  whole  of  this  description. 
The  Apostle  James,  on  the  other  hand, 
writing  to  those  who  had  abused  or  misun- 
derstood Paul's  doctrine,  and  who  thought  it 
enough  to  say  they  had  faith,  and  whose  lives 


64  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

showed  no  purpose  of  obedience,  argues  that 
justifying  faith  is  a  working  faith.  He  as- 
serts that  works  are  the  necessary  result,  and 
therefore  a  part^  of  true  faith ;  and  that  faith 
is  imperfect  without  them.  There  may  or 
may  not  be  a  formal  contradiction  between 
this  statement  and  that  of  Paul;  but  it  is 
evident  enough  that  there  is  no  real  contra- 
diction. Paul  is  speaking  of  the  inward  ex- 
perience of  forgiven  sin ;  James,  of  that,  and 
of  the  life  which  flows  from  it.  Paul  denies 
that  works  are  necessary  to  produce  justifica- 
tion: James  denies  that  justification  can  fail 
of  producing  them.  Paul  opposes  those  who 
would  make  works  a  condition  of  pardon: 
James  opposes  those  who  think  them  unne- 
cessary, as  the  result  and  evidence  of  pardon. 
Each  is  teaching  an  important  truth,  and 
these  truths  are  antagonist,  but  are  not  con- 
tradictory. 

§  27.    The  Distinction  between  Forgiveness  and  Justification. 

It  may  here   be    asked,  whether  the   term 
justification  means  the   same   thing   as   the 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  65 

term  forgiveness.  According  to  Rom.  iv.  6-8, 
it  would  seem  to  do  so ;  for  Paul  there  quotes 
the  passage,  "  Blessed  are  they  whose  iniqui- 
ties are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  are  covered," 
as  a  description  of  the  happiness  of  one  who 
is  justified  without  works.  So  far,  therefore, 
as  man's  feelings  are  concerned,  they  are  the 
same;  and  he  who  is  forgiven  is  justified. 
But,  though  the  substantial  meaning  of  these 
terms  is  the  same,  their  relative  meaning  is 
different.  Forgiveness  relates  to  the  removal 
of  the  sense  of  guilt  and  alienation  in  the 
human  mind.  Justification  relates  to  the  Di- 
vine act,  by  which  it  is  removed.  Two  things 
are  implied  in  the  reconciliation  of  the  sinner 
to  God.  The  first  is  God's  love,  which  recon- 
ciles ;  the  second  is  the  sinner's  sense  of  be- 
ing reconciled.  Justification  expresses  chiefly 
the  first  idea ;  and  forgiveness,  the  second. 

§  28.    Faith  and  Knowledge. 

What,  then,  is  the    nature    of    this    faith 
which  is  the  only  condition  of  Forgiveness  ? 


66  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

Faith  in  general  has  been  defined  "  A  realiz- 
ing sense  of  spiritual  things,"  which  corre- 
sponds nearly  to  the  definition  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  "  The  substance  of  things 
hoped  for;  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen." 
It  is  the  organ  by  which  we  perceive  the 
Spiritual  world.  And  without  this  organ  we 
should  have  no  personal  evidence  of  its  exist- 
ence, any  more  than  the  blind  man  has  of  the 
existence  of  color.  The  blind  man  may  be- 
lieve that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  color,  on 
the  testimony  of  others ;  and,  without  the  ex- 
ercise of  faith,  we  may  believe,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  others,  in  the  existence  of  a  spiritual 
world.  But  it  is  faith  which  gives  us  per- 
sonal evidence  of  its  reality,  or  what  ntay  be 
called  a  realizing  sense  of  it.  We  may  dis- 
tinguish between  Knowledge,  Faith,  Belief, 
and  Opinion,  in  the  following  way.  Knowl- 
edge and  Faith  have  the  same  degree  of  cer- 
tainty, and  both  come  from  experience :  but 
the  object  of  Knowledge  is  the  external  world; 
the  object  of  Faith,  the  internal  world*     The 


THE   CONDITIONS   OP  FORGIVENESS.  67 

instrument  of  Knowledge  is  sensation;  the 
instrument  of  Faith,  intuition.  By  Knowl- 
edge we  mean  the  certainty  we  have  attained 
of  the  existence  of  outward  things  by  the  ex- 
perience of  our  senses.  By  Faith  we  mean 
the  certainty  we  have  obtained  of  inward 
things  by  the  experience  of  our  intuitions. 
Our  certainty,  therefore,  of  the  existence  of 
the  outward  and  inward  world  has  precisely 
the  same  foundation, — that  of  Experience. 
Argument,  Reasoning,  Logic,  can  neither 
give  nor  take  away  this  certainty,  in  the  one 
case  nor  in  the  other.  To  think  to  obtain 
Faith  in  God  by  means  of  argument  is  as 
absurd  as  to  think  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of 
forms  or  colors  by  means  of  argument.  So, 
too,  no  argument,  however  plausible  or  co- 
gent, can  convince  a  man  of  the  non-existence 
of  what  he  has  seen;  and  no  argument, 
however  logical  it  may  appear,  can  in  the 
slightest  degree  shake  our  assurance  of  the 
existence  of  those  spiritual  things  of  which 
we  have  taken  cognizance  by  Faith.     If  it  be 


68  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

said  that  we  may  be  mistaken  in  our  intui- 
tions and  misinterpret  our  consciousness,  it  is 
also  true  that  we  may  be  deceived  by  our 
senses,  and  misinterpret  their  testimony.  But, 
because  our  senses  may  deceive  us,  no  one 
thinks  of  denying  that  they  are  the  source  of 
knowledge ;  and,  because  our  intuitions  may 
deceive  us,  no  one  can  properly  deny  that 
they  are  a  legitimate  source  of  certainty.  If 
we  have  all  of  us  a  greater  degree  of  cer- 
tainty concerning  the  outward  world  than  we 
have  concerning  the  inward  world,  the  reason 
is  simply  this,  that  we  have  had  more  experi- 
ence of  the  one  than  of  the  other.  If  our 
intuitions  had  been  as  numerous  and  fre- 
quent as  our  sensations,  our  certainty  of  the 
spiritual  world  would  have  been  equal  to  our 
certainty  of,  the  material  world.  The  proof 
of  this  is,  that,  in  exact  proportion  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  Faith  and  spiritual  insight,  increases 
our  assurance  of  the  reality  of  God,  Eternity, 
Heaven.  The  mass  of  men,  whose  senses 
are   constantly  exercised  upon  the   material 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGtVENESS.  69 

world,  while  their  souls  are  seldom  exercised 
upon  the  spiritual  world,  look  upon  the  first 
as  real,  and  the  second  as  unsubstantial. 
Religious  men,  who  continually  contemplate 
God,  Truth,  Right,  Love,  Immortal  Beauty, 
perceive  these  things  to  be  real;  while,  to 
some  of  them,  material  things  become  shad- 
owy and  unsubstantial.  Jesus,  who  dwelt  by 
habitual  insight  in  the  heavenly  world,  speaks 
of  spiritual  things  with  the  startling  distinct- 
ness and  accuracy  of  an  eye-witness.  To 
him  they  were  evidently  quite  as  real  and 
certain  as  the  things  of  this  world. 

§  29.    Faith  and  Belief. 

Faith  differs  from  Belief  also,  but  in  an- 
other way.  The  object  of  Faith  is  reality: 
the  object  of  Belief  is  a  proposition.  Belief 
comes  through  Reasoning  and  Logic ;  Faith, 
through  Intuition  and  Insight.*     The  experi- 

*  The  passage  (Romans,  x.  17)  which  declares  that "  Faith 
comes  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  God,"  is  not  in- 
consistent with  this  assertion.  The  objects  of  Belief  and  of  Faith 
are  both  furnished  from  without;  but  there  is  also  an  inward 


70  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

ence  of  the  outward  and  inward  world,  which 
is  the  source  of  Knowledge  and  Faith,  being 
reduced  to  formal  statements  by  the  action 
of  the  intellect,  becomes  the  object  of  Belief. 
By  Faith  we  perceive  the  love  of  God.  We 
reduce  this  experience  to  a  verbal  statement 
as  nearly  as  we  are  able,  and  then  it  becomes 
a  Doctrine  concerning  God^s  Love,  which  we 
believe.  This  statement  we  may  communi- 
cate to  another,  who  has  not  had  any  like 
experience ;  and  on  the  strength  of  our  testi- 
mony he  may  believe  it  also.  Then  we  shall 
both  have  the  same  creed  or  belief,  but  by  no 
means  the  same  faith.  In  like  manner,  two 
persons,  having  the  same  religious  experience 
or  the  same  faith,  may  not  represent  it  to 
their  minds  by  the  same  statements.  One 
possessing  more  analytic  power,  and  a  better 
reasoning  faculty,  may  make  a  more  correct 
statement  than  the  other  of  his  experience. 

action  of  the  mind  necessary  in  each  case.  This  inward  action  is, 
in  one  case,  Reasoning;  in  the  other,  Intuition:  the  outward 
source  is,  in  both  cases,  Testimony.  The  testimony  concerning 
Christ,  when  reasoned  upon,  becomes  Belief  in  Christ ;  when 
realized  by  Intuition,  becomes  Faith  in  Christ. 


THE   CONDITIONS   OP   FORGIVENESS.  71 

Then  they  will  have  the  same  faitli^  but  a 
different  belief.  And  the  belief  of  one  will  be 
right ;  that  of  the  other,  wrong. 

The  difference  between  Faith  and  Belief 
will  be  made  more  clear  by  the  following 
illustration:  one  man  believes  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  God ;  another  believes  that  he  is  the 
Son  of  God,  and  subordinate  to  the  Father : 
but  both  trust  in  him  as  a  Saviour,  able  to 
save  to  the  utmost;  as  a  Teacher  whose 
word  is  always  truth;  as  a  Friend  whose 
love  is  the  most  valuable  treasure  they  pos- 
sess. The  belief  of  these  two  men  is  evi- 
dently very  different.  But  their  faith  is  the 
same ;  for  each  trusts  wholly  in  Jesus.  The 
man  who  believes  that  he  is  subordinate  to 
the  Father,  trusts  entirely  in  him;  and  the 
other  can  do  no  more.  Again,  they  may 
differ  as  to  the  way  in  which  Christ  saves 
the  soul.  One  may  believe  that  it  is  by  pay- 
ing a  debt  due  to  God,  and  bearing  the 
penalty  of  human  transgression.  The  other 
may  believe  that  it  is  by  manifesting  the 


72  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

truth  and  love  of  God  to  the  soul,  and  by 
creating  a  new  life  therein.  But,  while  hold- 
ing these  different,  beliefs  as  to  the  way  of 
Salvation,  they  both  are  receiving  daily  peace 
and  strength  from  communion  with  their 
spiritual  Friend.  Both  rely  on  him  practi- 
cally in  the  same  way,  and  therefore  must 
have  the  same  faith.  Meantime  it  is  evident 
that  two  men  may  hold  precisely  the  same 
belief,  and  accept  intellectually  the  same 
creed;  and,  while  one  of  them  has  a  strong 
faith,  the  other  may  have  no  faith  at  all. 
For  do  we  not  see  every  day,  in  all  the 
churches,  those  who  hold  strongly  to  every 
variety  of  creed,  but  who  have  not  attained 
thereby,  as  yet,  to  any  Christian  faith  ? 

§  30.    Faith  and  Opinion. 

Faith,  we  have  seen,  produces  certainty ; 
Belief,  only  probability.  Still  lower  down  is 
Opinion^  which  produces  neither  certainty  nor 
probability,  but  only  a  thought.  When  a 
subject  is  presented  to  us,  we  have  an  opinion 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  73 

concerning  it,  which  results  from  the  first 
impression  it  makes  upon  our  mind.  These 
opinions  are  not  the  result  of  examination : 
they  are  not  supported  by  reason,  nor  based 
upon  evidence.  "  Opinion,"  says  Milton,  "  is 
knowledge  in  the  making ;  "  but,  unfortu- 
nately, in  most  cases  it  remains  unmade. 
Most  persons,  when  they  speak  of  their  creed 
or  their  belief,  mean  in  reality  only  their 
opinions.  Their  notions  on  religious  subjects 
are  not  the  result  of  any  careful  or  conscien- 
tious investigation,  but  of  the  impressions 
they  have  passively  received,  of  the  thoughts 
which  they  have  been  accustomed  to  hear. 
In  order  to  turn  their  opinions  into  belief,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  subject  each  to  an 
examination,  and  to  weigh  the  arguments  for 
and  against  it.  Only  by  this  process  can 
Opinion  be  changed  into  Belief. 

§  31.    Importance  of  these  Distinctions. 

When   Faith  is    confounded  with   Belief, 
many  evil  results  follow,  which  we  see  illus- 


74  FAITH  AND   WORKS,   OR 

trated  everywhere  in  the  present  condition  of 
the  church.  Salvation  is  made  to  depend  on 
the  belief  of  dogmas,  instead  of  a  right  state 
of  the  affections.  For,  if  a  man  believes  that 
his  creed  is  his  faith,  he  must  necessarily  be 
a  Dogmatist.  Again,  he  must  be  a  bigot, 
and  cling  to  his  dogma  with  an  exaggerated 
fondness,  idolize  it,  worship  it,  and  believe  in 
its  infallibility.  All  which  is  true  when  pred- 
icated of  Faith;  namely,  that  it  produces 
certainty,  assurance;  that  it  saves  the  soul; 
that  without  it  there  is  no  comfort,  hope,  nor 
peace ;  he  will  transfer  to  his  dogma  and 
predicate  of  his  Creed.  Then  follows  intoler- 
ance as  another  necessary  result  of  this  con- 
fusion. All  supposed  speculative  errors  he 
will  confound  with  spiritual  deficiencies. 
What  he  believes  a  heresy  he  will  also  believe 
to  be  irreligion,  and  to  doubt  his  creed  must 
be  to  him  the  same  thing  as  to  be  without 
God  or  hope  in  the  world.  It  may  safely  be 
assumed,  that  the  destruction  of  the  spirit  of 
bigotry,  intolerance,  and  sectarianism  in  the 


THE  CONDITIONS  OP  FORGIYENESS.  75 

Christian  church,  depends  upon  its  recogni- 
tion of  this  distinction  between  Faith  and 
Belief,  between  Religion  and  Theology.  The 
man  who  does  not  recognize  this  distinction 
(in  some  form  or  other)  ought  to  be  a  bigot, 
and  must  be  one. 

§  32.    Christian  Faith  in  particular. 

Faith,  in  general,  we  have  seen  to  be  the 
sight  of  spiritual  things.  Religious  faith  is 
the  sight  of  God  in  his  works  and  in  his 
providence.  Christian  faith  is  the  sight  of 
God  as  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  Faith 
in  general  produces  spirituality ;  Faith  in  God 
produces  religion;  Faith  in  Christ  produces 
the  Christian  life.  God  has  made  a  special 
revelation  in  Christ,  and  Christian  faith,  there- 
fore, is  specific;  having  a  character  of  its 
own,  derived  from  its  object.  God  in  nature 
reveals  his  power,  his  wisdom,  and  his  good- 
ness. He  reveals  himself  as  the  great,  wise, 
and  benevolent  Order  of  the  Universe.  He 
is    above    all,   through    all,   and  within    all. 


76  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

Above  all,  as  the  Creator ;  through  all,  as  the 
Sustainer ;  and  within  all,  by  communicating 
his  Life  and  Joy.  God  also  reveals  himself 
IN  THE  HUMAN  SOUL,  by  its  intuitions  of  Justice, 
Truth,  Beauty,  Personality,  Infinity,  and  Be- 
ing,—  as  the  personal  Moral  One,  sole  fair, 
sole  true.  But  the  Revelation  in  Christ  has 
something  special  in  it,  not  found  in  God's 
revelation  through  nature,  or  his  revelation  in 
the  human  soul.  In  Christ  He  comes  to 
man,  estranged  from  him  by  sin,  to  reconcile 
him  again  to  himself.  In  Christ  he  manifests 
himself,  not  as  Creator,  nor  as  King,  but  as 
Father.  He  enters  into  a  new  and  beautiful 
relation  with  the  individual  soul,  teaching  it 
to  cry  "  Father,"  and  to  feel  itself  his  Child. 
We  find  in  nature  few,  if  any,  indications  of 
forgiveness.  Everywhere  in  nature  we  read 
Law,  —  inexorable,  unrelenting  Law.  These 
Laws,  indeed,  are  always  adapted  to  the  good 
of  the  whole,  and  to  the  advancement  and 
perfection  of  the  race;  but  beneath  them  the 
individual    is    continually   crushed.      Nature 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  77 

never  pardons.  Her  wheels  thunder  on  along 
their  iron  track,  nor  turn  out  to  spare  any- 
helpless  mortal  who  has  fallen  beneath  them. 
Ignorance  of  the  Law  is  no  excuse.  Help- 
lessness is  no  excuse.  There  is  no  appeal  to 
any  Court  of  error ;  but  prompt  execution 
follows  judgment.  The  innocent  child,  who 
ignorantly  touches  fire,  is  not  the  less  burned. 
The  man  who,  in  the  night,  ignorantly  walks 
over  a  precipice,  is  not  the  less  destroyed.  In 
nature,  therefore,  we  find  no  word  of  pardon 
for  those  who  have  broken  the  Law,  what- 
ever may  be  their  excuse  or  sorrow.  Nor  do 
the  intuitions  of  the  soul  have  much  to  say 
of  pardon.  Conscience,  that  higher  voice  of 
God  within  us,  punishes  our  errors,  rewards 
our  virtues,  but  says  nothing  of  forgiven  sin. 
In  Christ  alone  do  we  find  a  full  manifesta- 
tion of  this  divine  attribute.  Christ  comes  as 
the  representative  of  God  to  the  fallen,  the 
outcast,  the  sinful,  to  show  them  God's  for- 
giving Love.  This  forgiving,  reconciling 
Love  is  the  one  essential  object  of  Christian 


78  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

faith.     And  the  saving  faith  of  Christianity 
is  a  reliance  on  God's  forgiving  Love. 

§  33.    Christian  Faith  as  the  Condition  of  Forgiveness. 

The  faith,  therefore,  which  is  the  one  con- 
dition of  forgiveness,  is  an  act  of  reliance  on 
the  reconciling  love  of  God^  sliown  to  us  in 
Christ  It  is  essentially,  therefore,  an  act, 
not  a  belief  nor  a  feeling.  So  far,  indeed,  as 
it  is  a  sight  of  God's  love,  it  has  an  intel- 
lectual character.  So  far,  too,  as  it  is  a  loving 
reliance  on  that  love,  it  has  an  affectionate 
character.  But  it  is  in  its  essence  a  moral 
act,  an  act  of  choice  and  will ;  and  yet  a 
receptive  act;  the  opening  of  the  heart  to 
God.  It  is  choosing  to  lean  on  him,  to  repose 
on  his  goodness,  to  rest  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  to  wait  on  the  Lord,  and  so  renew 
strength.  It  is  ceasing  from  our  own  works, 
that  God  may  work  in  us  and  by  us.  It  is 
"  feeding  the  mind  with  a  wise  passiveness," 
and  becoming  the  channels  through  which  the 
spirit  of  God  may  flow.     When  we  can  thus 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  79 

come  near  to  God,  looking  away  from  our- 
selves, and  looking  to  him  with  a  perfect 
childlike  trust,  we  may  lay  down  our  sins 
before  him,  and  receive  a  peace  which  passes 
understanding  into  our  soul.  This  peace  is 
th^  result  of  no  effort  of  ours :  it  is  the  pure 
gift  of  God.  All  that  we  have  to  do  is  to 
believe  in  it,  wait  for  it,  and  receive  it.  Faith, 
then,  becomes  the  organ  by  which  the  holy 
spirit  enters  the  soul,  and  helps  us  to  cry, 
Father. 

§  34.    Works,  growing  out  of  Faith,  the  Condition  of  full  Salva- 
tion. 

But  what  is  the  place  of  Works,  according 
to  this  view?  If  the  only  condition  of  for- 
giveness is  iPaith,  what  becomes  of  Works  ? 
The  answer  follows  from  what  we  have  before 
said.  Sin,  we  have  seen,  has  two  results: 
the  first,  which  is  estrangement  from  God,  is 
removed  at  once,  when  we  have  faith  in  his 
pardoning  love.  The  second,  which  is  moral 
depravity,  is  gradually  removed  by  faithful 
continuance  in  well-doing.     We  are  justified 


80  FAITH   AND   WORKS,    OR 

by  faith ;  we  are  saved  by  works,  flowing  out 
of  that  reconciled  state  of  the  heart.  The 
man  who  is  forgiven  is  not  yet  saved.  He 
has  the  principle  of  salvation  within  him,  but 
he  must  work  it  out.  By  the  strength  which 
comes  to  him  from  union  with  God,  he  must 
build  up  his  character,  overcome  evil  habits, 
purify  his  soul  from  all  unworthy  desires,  and 
acquire  the  power  of  self-denial,  generosity, 
patience,  and  fidelity,  which  shall  make  him  a 
perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  This  is  a  great 
work,  enough  to  task  all  the  energy  of  his 
soul,  and  which  will  develop  energies  of  which 
he  is  unconscious.  But  it  is  a  work  which 
is  done,  not  that  he  may  be  pardoned,  but 
because  he  has  been  pardoned;  not  as  task- 
work done  by  a  servant  for  wages,  but  the 
free  and  glad  efforts  which  a  friend  makes 
for  the  sake  of  a  friend.  It  is  not  anxious 
drudgery,  done  only  because  it  is  necessary 
for  something  else,  but  toil  which  is  lightened 
by  the  sense  of  the  Divine  aid  and  the  Divine 
love,  which  strengthens  us  to  perform  it,  and 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  81 

which  brings  with  it  its  own  immediate  re-- 
ward.  The  Epistles  of  Paul  are  filled  with 
exhortations  to  good  works;  but  the  pecu- 
liarity of  these  exhortations  is  in  the  motive 
appealed  to.  This  motive  appealed  to  is  not 
a  selfish  one.  It  is  not  the  fear  of  Hell,  or 
the  hope  of  Heaven.  But  Christians  are 
called  on,  by  their  sense  of  gratitude  for  what 
has  been  done  for  them,  because  they  have 
been  forgiven,  because  they  have  been  bought 
with  a  price,  because  God  has  chosen  them 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  has 
blessed  them  with  infinite  blessings  in  Jesus 
Christ,  to  be  faithful  and  to  abound  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  knowing  that  their  labor  is 
not  in  vain. 

§  35.     Mutual  relation  of  Faith  and  Works  in  the  Christian  Life. 

But,  if  works  proceed  from  faith,  faith  also 
proceeds  from  works,  and  each  needs  the 
other  in  order  to  complete  it.  Faith  gives  us 
energy,  and  enables  us  to  work  successfully. 
But,  while  we  are  working,  we  feel  the  need 
6 


82  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

of  greater  faith,  and  are  led  to  seek  for  it  and 
obtain  it  The  two,  therefore,  become  in- 
separably associated  in  the  Christian  life ; 
and  neither  can  exist  or  thrive  without  the 
other.  We  see  a  work  to  be  done,  a  duty  to 
be  performed ;  and,  conscious  of  our  inability 
to  do  it  as  we  ought,  we  are  led  to  exercise 
faith  in  God,  to  trust  ourselves  to  his  help, 
and  to  do  it  in  his  strength.  Thus  the  sense 
of  duty,  the  feeling  of  responsibility,  has  led 
to  the  sense  of  dependence,  has  produced  an 
act  of  faith  ;  but  this  again  immediately 
impels  to  action.  Through  faith  in  God  we 
become  strong,  and  the  performance  of  duty 
is  no  more  a  task,  but  a  pleasure ;  and  thus 
faith  leads  to  w^orks,  and  works  to  faith ;  and 
no  one  can  say  which  is  the  first,  and  which 
the  second.  In  the  logical  order,  faith  pre- 
cedes works ;  but,  in  the  chronological  order, 
they  are  simultaneous. 

§  36.    Results  of  Forgiveness  in  the  Future  Life. 

But  what  is  the  final  result  of  forgiveness 
hereafter  ?     This  is  the  question  we  must  next 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  83 

proceed  to  consider.  And  first  we  say,  that 
each  forgiven  soul,  being  reconciled  to  God, 
and  at  one  with  him,  and  feeling  itself  his 
child,  must  be  filled  with  God's  love  and  joy, 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  Evil  may  still  adhere 
to  it ;  it  may  not  yet  have  got  rid  of  the  con- 
sequences of  wrong-doing:  but  this  evil  is 
only  negative  evil,  it  is  only  the  absence  of 
good.  It  is  incompleteness,  smaller  capacity, 
less  power ;  a  less  degree  of  faith,  hope,  and 
love.  Forgiveness  has  removed  the  antago- 
nism of  the  soul  to  God ;  and  in  this  antag- 
onism, this  wilful  perversion,  this  determined 
hostility  to  goodness,  consists  the  whole  posi- 
tive character  of  sin.  All  this  wilful  perversity 
is  changed  into  willing  submission  and  loving 
^obedience,  by  the  forgiving  act  of  God.  The 
evil  that  remains,  therefore,  must  be  purely 
negative.  But  this  negative  evil,  this  absence 
of  good,  will  have  its  effect  on  the  position 
of  the  soul  in  God's  universe.  The  reason  of 
things  and  the  tenor  of  the  New  Testament 
equally  lead  to  the  opinion,  that,  in  the  other 


84  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

life,  as  in  this,  there  will  be  an  ascending 
scale  of  being,  a  gradation,  and  an  order. 
While  all  forgiven  souls  are  equal  in  one 
respect,  their  position  in  another  respect  will 
be  different.  Equal  in  their  inward  sense  of 
God's  loving  nearness,  they  will  be  different 
in  their  outward  faculties  and  powers,  and  in 
the  service  which  they  are  able  to  render,  — 
the  work  they  are  able  to  do.  Possessing 
different  degrees  of  insight,  energy,  and  love, 
some  will  preside  over  ten  cities,  some  over 
five,  and  others  over  two.  Thus  may  be 
reconciled  the  doctrine  of  Retribution,  taught 
in  the  parable  of  the  ten  pounds  (Luke,  xix. 
12),  with  the  parable  of  the  laborers  in  the 
vineyard  (Matt,  xx.) ;  the  first  of  which  teaches 
that  each  is  rewarded  in  proportion  to  his 
effort,  while  the  other  teaches  that  the  man 
who  had  wrought  but  one  hour  is  made  equal 
with  those  who  have  wrought  the  whole  day. 
Outwardly,  in  his  relation  to  others  and  to 
the  universe,  each  one  is  placed  according 
to  his  fidelity ;  while  inwardly,  in  their  rela- 


THE   CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  85 

tion  to  God,  all  forgiven  souls  are  equal. 
Thus  can  be  reconciled  Mercy  and  Justice, 
Law  and  Love.  Thus  will  the  Sacred  Order 
of  the  universe  be  maintained;  but  all  parts 
brought  into  a  perfect  harmony,  the  highest 
and  the  lowest  being  in  fulness  of  sympathy 
and  entire  accordance.  So  will  Mercy  and 
Truth  meet  together.  Righteousness  and  Peace 
kiss  each  other. 

§  37.    Objections  to  this  Doctrine,  and  the  Answer  to  them. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  consider  some  of 
the  objections  which  may  be  urged  against 
this  doctrine.  The  doctrine  of  forgiveness 
immediate  and  entire,  on  the  simple  condition 
of  faith,  is  unfavorable  (it  may  be  said)  to 
moral  effort.  If  we  can  be  pardoned  freely, 
on  the  condition  of  faith  without  works,  it  is 
argued  that  we  shall  not  be  likely  to  work.  A 
similar  objection  appears  to  be  taken  notice 
of  by  Paul.  "  Some  might  say,  Let  us  con- 
tinue in  sin,  that  grace  may  abound."  He 
replies,  "  But  how  can  those  who  are  dead  to 


86  FAITH   AND   WORKS,   OR 

sin  live  any  longer  therein?"  His  answer 
amounts  to  this,  that  forgiveness  produces  a 
dislike  to  sin,  and  a  wish  to  do  right;  that 
those  who  are  forgiven,  love  right-doing,  and 
therefore  there  is  no  danger  of  their  omitting 
to  work.  A  new  and  stronger  motive  for 
moral  effort  is  substituted  in  place  of  that 
which  is  taken  away.  All  experience  confirms 
this,  and  shows  that  there  are  none  so  active 
in  the  service  of  God,  in  the  performance  of 
duty,  in  working  for  human  advancement,  as 
those  who  feel  that  God  has  freely  forgiven 
them  by  his  grace.  The  love  and  joy  thus 
created  in  the  heart  is  a  perpetual  spring  of 
action.  So  far,  therefore,  as  he  who  is  forgiven 
is  concerned,  so  far  as  regards  the  penitent, 
this  seems  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  objec- 
tion. But  more  than  this.  If  this  motive 
of  love  be  not  enough  to  produce  moral  effort, 
we  must  remember  that  there  is  still  a  retri- 
bution to  which  he  must  look  forward, — 
strict  and  inevitable.  His  power  of  serving 
God  hereafter  will  depend  upon  his  fidelity 


THE   CONDITIONS    OF   FORGIVENESS.  87 

here.  And  the  prospect  of  this  inevitable 
retribution,  which  no  forgiveness  can  annul, 
while  it  animates  the  Christian  to  new  effort, 
alarms  the  impenitent,  and  leads  him  to  turn 
to  God.  Another  objection,  the  opposite  to 
this,  may  be  urged  by  those  who  are  discour- 
aged because  forgiveness  does  not  remove  all 
the  consequences  of  sin.  They  think  it  dis- 
couraging that  the  forgiven  sinner  should  be 
obliged  to  submit  to  the  Law  of  Retribution, 
and  endure  any  penalty  on  account  of  his 
past  sin.  The  objection  is,  that  forgiveness 
is  not  full  and  perfect,  unless  it  immediately 
removes  all  the  consequences  of  wrong-doing. 
But  to  this  we  may  answer,  first,  that  the 
New  Testament  itself,  in  the  Parable  of  the 
Ten  Pounds,  plainly  -teaches  that  those  who 
are  saved  come  nevertheless  under  a  strict 
law  of  Retribution,  and  are  rewarded  in 
different  degrees,  according  to  their  past  fidel- 
ity. This  doctrine,  which  is  found  throughout 
the  New  Testament,  must  not  be  explained 
away  or  omitted,  as  it  usually  has  been,  in 


88  FAITH   AND   WORKS,    OR 

any  theory  of  the  future  life.  And,  in  the 
second  place,  we  may  say  that  he  who  is 
forgiven  in  the  sense  which  we  have  described 
must  be  satisfied  with  his  outward  lot,  wherever 
it  may  be.  The  forgiveness  which  unites  the 
soul  w^ith  God,  and  which  fills  it  with  the 
love  of  God,  is  enough.  He  will  gladly  take 
his  place  in  the  great  order  of  the  universe, 
whatever  that  place  may  be,  and  do  honor  to 
the  holy  law  of  God  by  a  glad  submission 
to  its  requirements.  He  will  be  glad  to  do 
his  Master's  work  in  a  lowly  place  and  a 
lowly  office,  if  it  is  right  that  he  should  be 
there.  He  will  rejoice  that  others  stand  higher 
than  himself  among  the  thrones,  principalities, 
and  powers  of  the  heavenly  world,  since  it  is 
the  decree  of  divine  wisdom  that  it  should 
be  so.  It  is  only  our  earthly  selfishness,  not 
our  Christian  feeling,  which  can  complain  of 
God's  forgiveness  as  imperfect,  because  it 
only  gives  us  the  full  love  of  God,  and  does 
not  raise  us  as  high  as  his  more  faithful 
servants.     The  Prodigal  Son,  in  the  Parable, 


THE   CONDITIONS   OP   FORGIVENESS.  89 

may  teach  such  objectors  a  lesson  of  humility. 
Neither  of  these  objections  to  our  view  of 
Forgiveness  seems  to  be  important,  and  we 
may  therefore  pasrf  on  to  more  serious  diffi- 
culties. 


PAET  IV. 


OBSTACLES    AND    HELP{ 


§  38.    Practical  Difficulty  of  believing  in  Forgiveness,  arising 
from  the  Conscience. 

The  objections  urged  against  this  view  of 
forgiveness  from  the  side  of  the  intellect  are 
easily  answered.  But  the  practical  difficulty 
of  believing  in  forgiveness  is  much  greater 
than  the  intellectual.  It  is  much  easier  to 
believe  that  the  sins  of  David  were  forgiven, 
or  the  sins  of  Peter  were  forgiven,  than  to 
believe  that  our  own  sins  can  be  forgiven. 
But  what  we  have  to  do  is  not  to  believe  in 
the  forgiveness  of  David  or  of  Peter,  but 
in  our  own.  And  the  difficulty  arises,  not 
from  fear,  but  from  conscience.  It  is  the 
conscience  which  makes  it  difficult  to  believe 
[901 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  91 

m  forgiveness.  We  think  we  have  no  right 
to  be  forgiven.  For  conscience  in  every  man 
decides  all  questions  according  to  the  moral 
standard,  and  the  views  of  right  and  wrong, 
to  which  each  man  has  attained.  Now,  the 
moral  standard  of  one  who  is  not  a  Christian 
leads  him  to  believe  it  his  duty  not  to  forgive, 
but  to  punish.  He  has  not  learned  to  for- 
give others,  and  he  cannot  therefore  believe 
that  he  himself  may  be  forgiven.  He  thinks 
that  society  would  be  injured,  if  severe  pun- 
ishments were  abolished ;  and  he  is  obliged, 
by  the  law  of  his  own  mind,  to  believe  that 
the  government  of  God  would  be  shaken,  if 
God  should  forgive  instead  of  punishing. 
Educated  by  the  opinion  around  us  and  by 
our  own  treatment  of  others  to  disbelieve  in 
the  power  of  mercy,  and  to  rely  on  force  and 
fear,  the  necessary  result  is  that  we  cannot 
believe  it  possible  for  God  to  forgive  freely 
without  punishing.  In  this  way,  therefore, 
the  assertion  of  Christ  is  strictly  verified, 
that,  if  we  forgive  not  others  their  trespass- 


92  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

es,  neither  will  God  forgive  us  our  trespasses. 
He  will  not  forgive  us  till  we  have  faith  in 
his  forgiving  love;  for  that  is  the  condition 
of  forgiveness.  And  we  cannot  believe  in 
his  forgiving  love,  so  long  as  we  do  not  our- 
selves practise  forgiveness;  for  conscience 
compels  us  to  judge'  all  cases  by  the  same 
law.  And  thus  it  is  that  all  of  our  sinfulness, 
selfishness,  and  hardness  of  heart,  which  leads 
us  first  to  do  wrong,  and  then  to  excuse  our 
wrong-doing,  sophisticates  and  perverts  the 
moral  sense,  and  then  re-acts  upon  ourselves. 
When  we  have  succeeded  in  persuading  our- 
selves that  we  ought  to  be  vindictive  and 
unforgiving  to  others,  we  persuade  ourselves, 
at  the  same  time,  that  God  ought  to  be  vin- 
dictive and  unforgiving  toward  ourselves. 
For,  "to  the  merciful  man,  God  will  show 
himself  merciful,  and  to  the  pure  he  will 
show  himself  pure."  But  to  the  unmerciful  he 
will  necessarily  appear  unmerciful.  Here,  then, 
we  see  a  practical  difiiculty,  which  prevents 
our    believing    in    forgiveness, — a   difficulty 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  93 

which  remains  after  all  intellectual  objections 
are  answered. 

§  39.    All  Moral  Training  makes  it  more  difficult. 

But  not  only  does  all  sin  increase  the  diffi- 
culty of  believing  in  forgiveness,  but  all  our 
moral  training  increases  the  difficulty  also. 
All  moral  training  quickens  the  conscience, 
makes  it  sensitive,  and  leads  us  to  look  in  the 
direction  of  law,  rather  than  in  that  of  love. 
A  habit  of  mind  is  formed  which  leads  us  to 
contemplate  every  thing  in  its  relation  to  thfe 
moral  law.  We  look  at  Retribution  until  it 
becomes  difficult  to  believe  in  pardon.  It  is 
not  that  moral  culture  lays  too  much  stress 
On  the  doctrine  of  Retribution,  but,  by  laying 
exclusive  stress  on  that  doctrine,  it  becomes 
difficult  to  realize  the  antagonist  doctrine. 

§  40.     Christ's   Revelation    of  Divine   Love   alone  makes   it 
possible. 

Here,  then,  we  see  the  difficulties  which 
were  to  be  surmounted  by  means  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.    In  the  first  place,  sin  estranges 


94  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

the  soul  from  God;  and,  when  estranged  from 
God,  the  moral  power  which  should  conquer 
sin  is  palsied.  Then  conscience  itself  in- 
creases the  evil,  by  leading  us  to  believe  that 
we  have  no  right  to  come  to  God ;  that  we 
are  not  worthy  to  speak  to  him,  or  feel  toward 
him  the  confidence  and  afFectign  of  a  child. 
All  our  own  implacable  and  unforgiving  ac- 
tions and  feelings  increase  the  difiiculty,  by 
leading  us  to  attribute  the  like  disposition  to 
the  Almighty.  The  light  of  Nature  cannot 
fielp  us ;  for  Nature  teaches,  not  pardon,  but 
Law.  The  intuitions  of  the  soul  cannot  help 
us ;  for  they  say  nothing  of  forgiveness ;  moral 
culture  does  not  help  us,  but  rather  increases 
the  difiiculty  by  giving  a  disproportionate 
importance  in  our  minds  to  the  doctrine  of 
Retribution.  Yet  it  is  evident,  that  only  by 
being  brought  into  union  with  God  can  any 
new  life  or  spiritual  power  be  obtained.  We 
can  do  nothing  to  efiect  this.  God  himself, 
therefore,  must  come  to  us ;  for  we  are  morally 
unable  to  go  to  him.     This  he  does  in  the 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  95 

gospel,  —  the  essential  meaning  of  which  is, 
that  God  is  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  to 
himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto 
them.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  gospel. 
The  gospel  is  a  new  and  peculiar  manifesta- 
tion which  God  makes  to  men  in  Jesus 
Christ.  This  manifestation  is  love ;  as  it  is 
written,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whoso  be- 
lieveth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life."  And  this  leads  us  to  ask.  What 
are  the  agencies  which  co-operate  in  human 
forgiveness  ?  And  we  shall  find,  that,  for  the 
forgiveness  of  every  human  being,  something 
has  been  done ;  first  by  God,  next  by  Christ, 
thirdly  by  the  Church,  and  lastly  by  the  sinner 
himself. 

§  41.    The  "Work  of  God  in  Human  Forgiveness. 

What  is  the  work  of  God  in  human  for- 
giveness? It  is  to  make  a  new  and  special 
revelation  of  himself  to  man.  As  the  sinner 
has  made  himself  incapable  of  returning  to 


96  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

Godj  God  turns  to  him.  Christianity  shows 
that  the  Divine  Being  is  also  a  personal 
being ;  not  a  mere  collection  of  laws ;  some- 
thing more  than  the  order  of  the  universe.  In 
him  are  united  both  Law  and  Love ;  an  im- 
mutable moral  nature,  which  is  the  basis  of 
all  moral  distinction,  and  a  perfectly  free  will, 
not  bound  by  the  laws  of  this  nature,  but 
perpetually  originating  new  movements.  If 
Christianity  be  true,  that  view  is  false  which 
makes  the  Deity  nothing  else  than  the  support 
of  already  existing  laws.  This  view  widely 
diffused,  and  more  often  believed  than  ex- 
pressed, really  makes  the  Deity  less  free  than 
man  himself.  For  man  moves  in  the  twofold 
sphere  of  moral  character  and  moral  freedom. 
A  wise  and  good  parent,  in  his  intercourse 
with  his  children,  adopts  and  maintains  cer- 
tain laws  or  rules  of  action,  but  does  some- 
thing more  than  this.  There  is,  beside  this, 
a  spontaneous  movement  of  affection  and  of 
thought,  by  which  he  meets  and  answers 
every  change  in  the  condition  of  his  children, 


OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS.  97 

every  new  want  and  desire.  The  gospel 
affirms  the  same  thing  of  the  Deity.  He  also 
moves  in  the  two  spheres  of  Law  and  Love, 
of  Nature  and  Freedom;  makes  new  mani- 
festations of  himself,  corresponding  to  the 
new  wants  of  his  creatures ;  comes  to  them 
when  they  cannot  come  to  him;  takes  the 
initiative;  not  merely  answers  their  prayers, 
but  incites  them  to  pray ;  not  merely  rewards 
their  efforts,  but  supplies  new  motives  to  lead 
to  effort.  Thus,  while  in  one  sphere  the  Deity 
appears  as  the  moral  order  of  Creation,  He 
moves  in  the  other  sphere  as  the  eternal 
Father  and  Friend.  The  miraculous  char- 
acter of  the  New  Testament  history  consists 
essentially  in  this.  The  great  miracle,  under- 
lying all  the  rest,  is  the  new  manifestation 
of  God's  character  which  is  made  in  Christ. 
But  this  manifestation  was  not  a  single  act, 
beginning  and  ending  with  the  life  of  Jesus, 
but  is  a  constant,  continued  manifestation 
made  in  every  age  to  the  believing  soul.  It 
is  a  perpetual  miracle,  by  which  God  reveals 
7 


98  OBSTACLES   AND   HEI^PS. 

himself  in  Christ,  forgiving  sin,  and  bringing 
his  child  back  to  himself.  The  work  of  God 
ill  forgiveness y  therefore^  is  a  positive,  keal 

COMMUNICATION  OF  HIMSELF  THROUGH  ChRIST 
TO    THE    HUMAN    SOUL. 

§  42.    The  Work  of  Christ  in  Human  Forgiveness,  as  a  Teacher. 

We  ask,  in  the  second  place,  What  has 
Christ  done  for  our  forgiveness  ?  His  work, 
in  this  respect,  was  done  by  his  teaching, 
by  his  life,  and  by  his  death.  His  teaching 
unfolds  an  entirely  new  view  of  the  Divine 
Being.  This  view  he  makes  intelligible  in 
the  only  way  by  which  it  can  be  made  intel- 
ligible,—  by  means  of  the  analogy  of  the 
earthly  parent.  In  the  earthly  parent  we  see 
that  the  most  perfect  purity  and  the  strictest 
sense  of  virtue  may  be  joined  with  tender 
compassion  for  an  erring  child,  and  untiring 
efforts  for  his  reformation.  We  see  the  good 
parent  devoting  time,  thought,  means,  effort, 
to  bring  back  to  a  sense  of  duty,  or  to  save 
from  utter  destruction,  the  reckless,  ungrateful, 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  99 

and  abandoned  son.  Here  is  something  more 
than  strict  justice,  —  something  more  than 
the  moral  law.  In  the  story  of  the  Prodigal 
Son,  Jesus  carries  to  the  utmost  extent  this 
trait  of  fatherly  character.     He  says  there  is 

MORE  JOY  IN  HEAYEN  OVER  ONE  SINNER  THAT 
REPENTETH,  THAN  OVER  NINETY  AND  NINE  JUST 
PERSONS  THAT  NEED  NO  REPENTANCE.    Does  God, 

then,  love  the  sinner  better  than  the  saint? 
Does  he  feel  more  interest  in  the  one  return- 
ing from  his  wickedness,  than  in  the  ninety 
and  nine  persisting  in  their  goodness?  The 
answer  is,  he  feels,  not  more,  but  differently. 
There  is  more  joy,  but  not  more  of  love. 
Yet  there  is  a  different  kind  of  love.  God, 
who  loves  the  good  with  the  love  of  appro- 
bation and  sympathy,  loves  the  evil  with  the 
love  of  pity  and  compassion.  The  love  of 
approbation  is  greatest  for  the  good ;  the  love 
of  pity,  the  greatest  for  the  evil.  The  love 
of  sympathy  and  approbation  increases  in 
proportion  to  nearness ;  the  love  of  pity,  in 
proportion  to  distance.    Those  who,  by  patient 


100  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

continuance  in  well-doing,  have  worked  out 
their  own  salvation,  have  freed  themselves 
almost  entirely  from  selfishness,  have  become 
the  children  of  God,  are  able  to  enter  into  his 
thought,  able  to  appreciate  his  creative  energy 
and  his  holy  will.  But  tho^e  who  have  re- 
ceded, by  their  wilful  obstinacy  and  perverse- 
ness,  to  the  greatest  distance  from  him,  plun- 
ging into  the  blackest  night  and  the  coldest 
moral  death,  receive  the  most  of  that  pitying 
love  which  aims  at  their  rescue  and  pardon. 
And  as  the  joint  action  of  the  centripetal  and 
centrifugal  forces  maintain  the  balance  of  the 
physical  universe,  so  is  the  moral  creation  of 
God  bound  together  and  maintained  by  the 
combined  action  of  these  two  principles. 
The  teaching  of  Jesus  on  this  subject,  which 
is  wholly  original  and  unprecedented,  presents 
a  view  of  God  in  his  Fatherly  character  abso- 
lutely essential  to  human  forgiveness.  Jesus, 
therefore,  can  say  with  strict  historic  truth, 
"  No  man  comes  to  the  Father  but  by  Me;" 
for  this  peculiar  revelation  of  God's  love  to 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  101 

his  erring  child  belongs  to  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  alone.  He  gives  a  view  of  God  which 
neither  prophet,  lawgiver,  nor  sage  ever  dared 
to  imagine,  —  yet  no  dead  speculation,  but 
a  flood  of  Light  which  is  also  warm  with 
Life;  and  this  living  Light  has  illuminated 
the  world. 

§  43.    And  in  his  Life. 

Again,  Jesus  taught  by  his  life  the  for- 
giving love  of  his  Father,  and  thus  became 
himself  the  image  and  manifestation  of  his 
Father,  —  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  That 
principle  of  mercy,  that  love  of  pity,  which 
is  the  principle  in  the  Divine  Being  which 
makes  human  forgiveness  possible,  was  the 
great  active  principle  which  animated  the  life 
of  Jesus.  He  came  to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost ;  and  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners, 
to  repentance.  His  mercies  were  pronounced 
on  those  who  felt  themselves  poor,  empty, 
naked,  and  blind.  His  invitation  was  to  those 
who  were  weary  and  heavy  laden.  His  in- 
tercourse was  with  the  publican  and  sinner. 


102  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

And  wherever  he  went,  he  found  the  penitent 
to  whom  he  could  say,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven 
thee :  go  in  peace."  Those  who  hated  him, 
and  sought  to  kill  him,  were  the  objects  of  his 
especial  interest.  And  his  last  words  were 
those  of  forgiveness  for  his  ignorant  tormen- 
tors. Thus  the  whole  spirit  of  his  life  was 
a  manifestation  of  the  principle  of  Forgiving 
love.  We  see  that  there  is  such  a  thing  by 
his  example ;  we  see  it,  not  as  a  theory,  but 
realized  in  action.  We  are  thus  enabled 
to  have  faith  in  it.  And  when  we  come  to 
know,  that  this  principle,  shown  in  the  life 
of  Jesus,  is  the  same  principle  in  God,  we  are 
able  to  have  faith  in  God's  forgiving  love. 
Thus  Christ's  Life,  in  its  totality,  helps  us  to 
behold  and  rejoice  in  this  Divine  Love,  as  an 
actual  spiritual  reality ;  helps  us  to  take  hold 
of  it  by  Faith,  and  feed  on  it  in  the  heart 
with  thanksgiving. 

§  44.    And  by  his  Death.    Principal  Texts. 

We  now  approach  a  more  difficult  ques- 
tion, —  difficult  on  many  accounts,  but  espe- 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  103 

cially  because  it  has  been  the  theme  of  so 
much  controversy.  It  is  difficult  to  look  at 
any  question  which  has  been  the  subject  of 
continued  controversy,  except  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  disputants  of  either  side.  We 
allow  no  text  to  make  its  natural  impression 
on  our  mind,  but  only  inquire,  as  regards 
each,  how  it  bears  upon  the  old  dispute.  So 
far  as  possible,  we  will  endeavor  to  avoid  this 
narrowness,  while  inquiring  how  the  death 
of  Jesus  bears  upon  the  Forgiveness  of  sin. 
Many  passages  in  the  New  Testament  indi- 
cate a  connection  between  these  two.  First, 
we  have  the  words  of  Jesus  in  instituting  the 
Lord's  supper,  — "  This  is  my  blood  of  the 
New  Covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  for 
the  remission  of  sins  "  (Matt.  xxvi.  28).  Next 
to  this  come  several  passages  in  the  Epistles 
of  Paul,  and  especially  the  famous  passage 
(Rom.  iii.  25),  where  he  says  that  "  God  has 
set  forth  Jesus  to  be  a  propitiation  or  mercy- 
seat,  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare, 
or  manifest,  his  mode  of  forgiving  past  and 


104  OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS. 

present  sins."  There  are  other  passages 
which  teach  that  Jesus  was  "delivered  for 
our  offences,"  or  on  account  of  them ;  that  he 
"  died  for  the  ungodly,"  and  that  he  "  died 
for  us  while  we  were  yet  sinners,"  and  that, 
"  being  now  justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall 
be  saved  from  wrath  through  him."  "  For 
if,"  continues  the  apostle  (Rom.  v.  10),  "  when 
we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God 
by  the  death  of  his  Son ;  much  more,  being 
reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life." 
These  are  the  principal  passages  bearing  on 
the  subject  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
and  are  of  the  first  importance  as  regards  the 
present  question.  In  the  two  Epistles  to 
the  Corinthians,  Christ  is  called  "  our  pass- 
over,"  —  is  said  to  have  "  died  for  our  sins," 
and  that  "  he  died  for  all ; "  but  no  connection 
is  indicated  between  his  death  and  our  for- 
giveness. In  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians 
we  find  many  more  passages  indicating  this 
connection.  We  have  "  Redemption  through 
his  blood,  even  forgiveness  of  sin  "  (Eph.  i.  7). 


OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS.  105 

"  But  now  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye,  who  sometime 
were  far  off,  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of 
Christ.  For  he  is  our  peace,  who  hath  made 
both  Jew  and  Gentile  one,  that  he  might 
reconcile  both  unto  God  in  one  body  by  the 
cross"  (Eph.  ii.  13,  16).  In  Eph.  iv.  32,  we 
read,  "  Forgive  one  another,  even  as  God  in 
Christ  hath  forgiven  you."  Similar  passages 
are  found  in  Col.  i.  20,  ii.  13 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  6 ; 
Tit.  ii.  14,  iii.  4.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
teaches  that  Christ  made  "  a  sacrifice  of  him- 
self for  sins,"  and  to  "bear  the  sins  of  many;" 
and  that,  "  his  blood  may  purge  our  conscience 
from  dead  works."  The  last  passage,  indeed, 
seems  to  imply  a  moral  influence  in  the  death 
of  Jesus  to  reform  the  character,  as  do  other 
passages  like  these  :  —  (1  Peter,  ii.  24)  "  Who 
his  own  self  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on 
the  tree,  that  ive,  being  dead  to  sins,  should  live 
unto  righteousness ;  hy  whose  stripes  ye  were 
healed:'  (1  John,  i.  7)  "  The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  cleanses  us  from  all  sin."  (Rev.  i.  5) 
"  Who  has  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his 


106  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

blood."  (Titus,  ii.  14)  "Who  gave  himself 
for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iu' 
iquity^  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar 
people,  zealous  of  good  works,^^  From  all 
these  passages,  we  see  plainly  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  New  Testament  is,  that  the  death 
of  Christ  has  an  intimate  connection  with  the 
forgiveness  of  sin.  But  it  is  equally  plain, 
that  these  passages  do  not  clearly  teach  what 
this  connection  is.  They  assert  that  the 
death  of  Christ  is  a  means  of  our  forgiveness ; 
but  they  do  not  at  all  teach  how  it  is  the 
means. 

§  45.    Various  Theories  concerning  the  Effect  of  Christ's  Death. 

The  nearest  approach  to  a  theory  on  this 
subject  in  the  New  Testament  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The  writer 
asserts  that  the  Death  of  Christ  was  necessary 
to  the  perfection  of  his  character,  and  that 
this  perfection  of  Christ's  character  was  ne- 
cessary for  our  salvation.  But  this  theory  is 
merely  indicated,  not  elaborated.     The  next 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  107 

theory  which  attempted  to  explain  the  way  in 
which  the  death  of  Christ  procured  our  for- 
giveness was  that  of  the  early  Church.  The 
Greek  and  Latin  fathers,  during  many  centu- 
ries, taught  that  the  death  of  Christ  was  a 
ransom  paid  to  the  Devil  to  redeem  from  his 
power  the  souls  which  had  legally  fallen  into 
his  hands,  and  become  his  property  in  conse- 
quence of  their  sins.  The  next  theory  was 
that  of  Anselm,  who  taught  that  the  death 
of  Christ  was  an  equivalent  for  the  debt  due 
to  God  on  account  of  human  transgression ; 
and  that,  the  debt  being  paid,  the  debtors 
might  be  forgiven.  This  view  also  prevailed 
for  many  hundred  years.  The  next  theory 
was  that  of  Grotius,  who  taught  that  the 
death  of  Christ  was  a  manifestation  of  God's 
displeasure  against  sin,  and  was  necessary  to 
enable  God,  as  a  moral  governor,  to  forgive 
the  sinner,  without  impairing  the  respect  due 
to  the  moral  law.  This  opinion  is  held  more 
extensively  than  any  other  among  the  Ortho- 
dox of  the  present  time.     A  fourth  theory, 


108  OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS. 

which  has  prevailed  more  extensively  among 
a  certain  school  of  Unitarians,  is,  that  the 
death  of  Christ  is  a  moral  influence  exerted 
upon  men  to  produce  repentance  and  reforma- 
tion by  the  power  of  its  example  of  generous 
self-sacrifice.  For  as,  according  to  the  view 
of  this  school,  the  only  forgiveness  possible  is 
that  which  follows  reformation,  the  death  of 
Christ  can  only  procure  our  forgiveness  by 
producing  reformation. 

§  46.    All  Matters  of  Theology  not  of  Keligion. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  at  this  time  to  enter 
into  a  critical  examination  of  these  theories ; 
against  all  of  which,  however,  grave  objec- 
tions seem  to  lie.  We  will  proceed  positively, 
rather  than  negatively,  by  examining  anew, 
and  as  if  for  the  first  time,  this  question, 
without  further  reference  to  previous  theories 
on  the  subject.  The  New  Testament  de- 
clares, as  we  have  seen,  that  we  are  forgiven 
by  means  of  the  death  of  Christ.  It  applies 
to  his  death  many  of  the  sacrificial  figures  of 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  109 

the  Jewish  ritual,  making  him  sometimes  the 
sin-offering  of  the  new  covenant,  sometimes 
the  covenant-victim  of  the  new  covenant,  and 
again  the  Christian  Paschal  Lamb.  But  as 
the  New  Testament  says  nothing,  beyond  the 
use  of  these  various  and  conflicting  images, 
to  point  out  how  it  was  that  the  death  of 
Jesus  removed  the  difliculties  in  the  way  of 
human  forgiveness,  we  may  safely  conclude, 
that  all  speculations  on  this  subject  are  not 
matters  of  faith,  but  only  matters  of  belief 
and  opinion ;  that  they  belong  to  the  domain 
of  Theology,  not  to  that  of  Religion.  And, 
secondly,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  most  cor- 
rect theory  on  this  subject  must  come  after 
each  school  of  thought  shall  have  contributed 
its  own  solution  of  the  problem.  We  there- 
fore proceed  to  our  own  explanation. 

§  47.    How  the  Death  of  Christ  may  produce  Faith  in  Forgiving 
Love. 

The  death  of  Christ  must  procure  forgive- 
ness of  sin  by  removing  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  that  forgiveness.     In  the  course  of 


110  OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS. 

thought  we  have  pursued,  we  have  seen  that 
these  difficulties  were  twofold,  arising  from 
the  nature  of  man  and  from  the  nature  of 
God.  The  subjective  difficulty^  or  that  arising 
from  the  nature  of  man,  is  the  difficulty  of 
believing  in  the  forgiving  love  of  God,  be- 
cause man's  conscience  shows  him  that  a 
holy  being  must  necessarily  be  estranged 
from  an  unholy  being;  and  that,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed 
between  righteousness  and  iniquity.  The  ob- 
jective diffi^culty^  or  that  arising  from  the  na- 
ture of  God,  is  that  this  law  really  exists,  and 
that  God  really  is  and  must  be  alienated 
from  every  unholy  being.  These  are  the  two 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  human  forgiveness, 
one  or  both  of  which  must  have  been  re- 
moved by  the  death  of  Christ.  Taking  first 
the  subjective  difficulty,  we  see  how  that  may 
be,  in  a  great  measure,  removed  by  the  teach- 
ing and  life  of  Jesus,  both  of  which  we  have 
seen  to  be  a  manifestation  of  the  forgiving 
love  of  God.     We  can  believe  a  thing  when 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  Ill 

we  see  it,  the  reasons  of  which  we  cannot 
understand.  We  may  not  understand  how 
God  can  forgive  us  until  we  are  perfectly- 
holy;  and  yet,  if  we  actually  see  his  forgiv- 
ing love  manifested  in  the  words  and  life  of 
Jesus,  we  may  be  enabled  to  believe  in  it. 
But  still  more  is  this  manifested  in  the  death 
of  Jesus.  When  this  death  is  regarded  as 
part  of  the  plan  of  Divine  Providence  for  the 
forgiveness  and  redemption  of  the  sinner,  we 
say,  "  He  who  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
freely  gave  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he 
not  with  hiij^i  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  "  "  If, 
while  we  were  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us," 
it  proves,  more  than  any  thing  else  can,  the 
love  which  God  has  even  for  sinners.  If  he 
permits  the  good,  whom  he  loves  as  belong- 
ing to  himself,  to  suffer  for  the  sinners  who 
are  estranged  from  him,  it  shows  that  they 
also  are  in  some  way  dear  to  him.  K  he  not 
only  permits,  but  decrees,  that  Jesus,  his  well- 
beloved  Son,  a  being  of  perfect  holiness  and 
purity,  therefore  perfectly  united  with  himself. 


112  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

shall  suffer  and  die  in  his  work  of  saving  sin- 
ners, it  proves  conclusively  the  yearning  of 
His  soul  for  their  redemption. 

§  48.    As,  in  fact,  it  has  actually  done. 

That,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  death  of  Je- 
sus has  been  the  highest  manifestation  to  the 
world  of  God's  forgiving  love,  all  history 
proves.  Here  also  the  theory  is  one  thing, 
and  may  be  questioned :  the  fact  is  quite  an- 
other, and  is  unquestionable.  The  story  of 
the  death  of  Jesus  has  touched  the  human 
heart,  and  awakened  a  faith  in  ^he  fatherly 
goodness  of  God;  has  produced  penitence 
for  sin;  has  awakened  hopes  of  pardon  and 
salvation,  and  been  the  beginning  of  a  new 
life  to  tens  of  thousands.  Jesus,  being  lifted 
up,  has  drawn  all  men  unto  him.  That  his 
death  has  been  a  great  means  of  reconciling 
sinners  to  God,  and  removing  the  subjective 
difficulty  on  the  side  of  man,  in  the  way  of 
redemption,  no  one  acquainted  with  the  facts 
of  history  will  deny. 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  113 

§  49.    How  Christ's  Death  may  have  satisfied  the  Divine  Holiness. 

But  what  did  the  death  of  Jesus  do  to  re- 
move the  Objective  difficulty^  or  that  on  the 
side  of  the  Deity  ?  His  death  reconciled  man 
to  God:  did  it  also  reconcile  God  to  man? 
The  scriptures  do  not  positively  assert  this; 
but  they  indicate  it  in  one  or  two  passages. 
The  difficulties  connected  with  this  question 
are  greater  than  most  others,  and  fortunately 
their  solution  is  not  so  necessary  to  our  peace 
of  mind  as  has  commonly  been  supposed. 
Since  God  has  positively  taught  and  shown 
us  that  he  is  ready  to  forgive  our  sins,  if  we 
will  have  faith  to  believe  it,  we  may  be  satis- 
fied with  this  assurance,  and  not  insist  upon 
understanding  exactly  how  it  can  be  done. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  must  walk  by  faith, 
and  not  sight.  No  greater  error  has  evei 
been  committed  by  Theologians,  than  when 
they  have  made  their  own  theories  of  the 
atonement,  instead  of  God  himself,  the  object 
of  faith.  God's  manifestation  of  himself  in 
8 


J  14  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

Christ,  as  a  forgiving  God,  is  the  only  true 
object  of  faith ;  and  any  theory  which  ex- 
plains the  method  of  this  forgiveness  can  be 
only  an  object  of  belief.  The  New  Testa- 
ment itself  gives  us  no  theory,  but  at  best 
only  hints  and  intimations  upon  which  one 
may  be  founded.  The  difficulty  on  the  side 
of  God,  lying  in  the  way  of  human  forgive- 
ness, has  commonly  been  supposed  to  pro- 
ceed from  his  attribute  of  Justice.  But  the 
Justice  of  God  is  but  the  Holiness  of  God 
manifesting  itself  in  action ;  and  the  real  and 
only  difficulty  (as  we  have  before  seen)  on 
the  side  of  the  Deity,  respecting  human  for- 
giveness, arises  from  the  essential  repugnance 
between  a  holy  being  and  those  who  are  un- 
holy. Forgiveness  implies  the  union  of  the 
soul  with  God.  It  implies  a  partaking  of 
the  Divine  nature.  It  implies  God  dwelling 
in  us  and  we  in  God,  or  the  most  perfect 
union  which  language  is  capable  of  express- 
ing. But  the  most  sincerely  penitent  have 
yet  much   of  impurity  connected  with  their 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  115 

character.  How,  then,  can  they  be  forgiven 
in  any  such  sense  as  this  ?  None  of  the  Or- 
thodox theories  of  the  atonement  have  met 
this  difficulty.  They  have  said  that  Christ 
has  suffered  the  penalty  due  to  our  sins. 
But  a  criminal  who  has  endured  the  penalty 
of  his  crime  is  not  necessarily  made  holy 
thereby.  If  we  had  endured  the  penalty  our- 
selves due  to  our  sins,  this  would  not  have 
made  us  holy.  Supposing  that  Christ  has 
endured  the  penalty  due  to  human  sin,  all 
that  logically  follows  from  this  is,  that  men 
are  released  thereby  from  suffering  this  pen- 
alty themselves.  They  escape  from  Hell; 
but  escape  from  Hell  is  no  preparation  for 
Heaven.  Therefore  a  deeper  difficulty  re- 
mains, which  this  theory  cannot  remove. 
Aware  of  this,  the  older  and  more  logical 
Orthodox  theologians  added  a  second  part  to 
their  theory  of  the  atoning  work  of  Christ. 
By  his  passive  obedience,  they  said,  he  paid 
the  penalty  due  to  our  sins;  and  his  active 
obedience,  or  holiness,  was  transferred  or  im- 


116  OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS. 

puted  to  us,  and  becomes  ours.  We  become 
holy  by  means  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
which  is  imputed  to  us.  But,  beside  other 
difficulties  which  lie  against  this  scheme, 
there  is  this,  which  is  a  fatal  one,  that  what 
we  need  is  not  imputed  righteousness,  but 
real  righteousness.  The  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  our  forgiveness  is  not  a  technical  one,  but 
a  real  one.  It  does  not  come  from  any  out- 
ward law,  but  from  the  holy  nature  of  the 
Deity  himself.  We  are,  then,  irresistibly 
brought  to  this  conclusion,  —  that,  if  there  be 
any  objective  difficulty  in  the  way  of  human 
forgiveness,  it  must  be  from  the  essential  hos- 
tility of  the  Holy  character  of  God  to  all  un- 
holiness.  And  again,  that,  if  Christ's  death 
removes  this  difficulty,  it  must  be  by  commu- 
nicating to  the  sinner  his  own  perfect  holiness, 
—  by  removing  from  his  soul  the  essential 
nature  of  sin,  and  by  making  him  really,  not 
legally,  holy  in  the  sight  of  God. 


OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS.  117 

§  50.    By  communicating  Actual  Holiness. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  awe  and  adoring 
reverence  that  we  are  brought  to  this  great 
conclusion,  —  a  conclusion  justified  by  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament  throughout. 
Shall  we  believe  then,  that,  when  we  are  horn 
of  Godf  we  do  not  and  cannot  commit  sin,  for 
that  his  seed  remains  in  us ;  and  that  we  cannot 
sin  because  we  are  born  of  God  ?  Is  it  true 
that  Christ's  death  was  necessary  to  his  own 
perfection,  so  "  that,  being  perfect,  he  might  be- 
come the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  those 
who  obey  him  "  ?  Is  it  true  that  faith  in  Christ 
so  unites  us  with  him,  that  the  germ  of  his 
perfect  righteousness  is  planted  within  our 
souls,  not  being  merely  imputed,  but  actually 
imparted,  to  us?  So  the  scriptures  plainly 
teach,  asserting  that  the  new  life  within  us  is 
the  life  of  Christ  as  to  its  principle ;  and  that 
the  life  we  live,  we  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God.  They  teach  that  we  become  dead  to  sin, 
and    alive  to  righteousness;   and  that,  being 


118  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

sometime  alienated  and  enemies  in  our  mind 
by  wicked  works,  we  have  been  reconciled  by 
the  death  of  Christ,  that  we  might  be  presented 
holy,  blameless,  and  without  fault,  before  the 
eye  of  God  (Col.  i.  22).  The  evil  which  re- 
mains connected  with  the  soul  is  no  more 
part  of  it.  It  is  external  to  it.  The  centre 
of  the  soul  is  Loye,  which  is  pure  and  perfect. 
Christ  dwells  in  the  heart  by  faith,  and  the 
root  and  ground  of  the  soul  is  Love  (Eph.  iii. 
17).  The  soul,  inwardly  renewed,  is  toward 
God  created  anew  in  righteousness  and  pure 
holiness  (Eph.  iv.  24).  Sin,  therefore,  has  no 
more  dominion  over  us.  It  is  not  our  master ; 
for  we  do  not  submit  to  it  nor  love  it.  It  may 
sometime  overpower  us ;  but  we  are  not  its 
slave.  For  morally  we  are  only  the  servants 
of  that  to  which  we  yield  ourselves  to  obey. 
The  mind  serves  the  law  of  God;  and  if, 
through  weakness  or  error,  we  do  any  evil,  it 
is  not  we  that  do  it,  but  the  evil  habit  external 
to  the  soul  which  has  not  yet  been  wholly 
cast  off  by  the  power  of  the  new  principle. 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  119 

We  are  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit ;  for 
the  spirit  of  God  dwells  in  us.  And  if  Christ 
be  in  us,  the  body  indeed  may  still  have  some 
of  the  death  of  sin  adhering  to  it;  but  the 
spirit  is  filled  with  the  life  of  righteousness 
(Rom.  viii.  10).  That  is  to  say,  that,  when  a 
man  is  able  to  believe  in  God's  forgiving  love 
through  Christ,  the  inmost  principle  of  his 
nature,  being  united  with  Christ,  becomes 
wholly  pure,  and  all  unholiness  is  rooted  out 
of  it.  Any  evil  that  remains  is  external 
to  the  soul,  and  belongs  to  the  body.  But 
that,  too,  shall  be  purified  and  cast  out  by  the 
operation  of  this  new  principle.  Even,  as 
the  apostle  goes  on  to  say  (Rom.  viii.  11), 
that,  if  the  Divine  Spirit  dwell  within  us,  it 
will  make  alive  our  bodies  also,  and  make 
them  spiritual  too.  This  doctrine,  however 
will  not  encourage  presumption,  or  enable  us 
to  continue  contented  in  sin;  for  the  only 
evidence  which  we  can  have  of  being  thus 
inwardly  pure  is  that  we  abhor  all  evil, 
and,  by  the  help   of  the   spirit,  do  mortify 


120  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

(or  kill  out)  the  deeds  of 'the  body.  While 
we  are  loving  God  and  holiness,  and  only 
so  long,  are  we  inwardly  free  from  the  power 
of  sin. 

§  51.    The  Work  of  Man  in  his  own  Forgiveness. 

Having  considered  the  work  of  God  and 
of  Christ,  we  now  ask  what  man  himself  has 
to  do  in  order  to  be  forgiven.  The  condition 
on  his  part,  as  we  have  seen,  is  faith  alone. 
But  we  have  also  seen,  that  this  faith  is  by 
no  means  a  barren  intellectual  principle,  but 
an  active  reliance  on  the  Divine  mercy ;  and 
that  it  implies,  as  its  own  necessary  condition, 
certain  antecedents.  It  implies  a  sense  of  sin; 
for,  unless  we  perceive  the  reality  of  sin,  we 
can  by  no  means  perceive  the  reality  of  par- 
don. It  is  plainly  impossible  for  one  who  is 
not  conscious  of  his  sinfulness  to  feel  the 
deep  meaning  of  forgiveness.  In  some  form 
or  other,  therefore,  the  feeling  of  alienation 
must  precede  that  of  reconciliation.  The 
sense  of  estrangement  and  opposition   must 


OP   THR  " 


OBSTACLES   AND 


go  before  that  of  union.  Those  who,  with 
the  deepest  humility,  are  most  profoundly- 
sensible  of  their  own  moral  weakness,  ^who 
are  most  crushed  by  the  sense  of  unworthi- 
ness,  whose  conscience  is  most  painfully  alive 
to  every  omission  of  duty,  —  are  prepared,  so 
far,  for  the  most  exulting  happiness,  the  most 
rejoicing  faith  in  Divine  mercy.  Where  sin 
abounds,  there  grace  may  much  more  abound. 
But  this  sense  of  sin  is  awakened  by  the 
Law;  and  the  more  high  and  pure  the  law, 
the  more  thorough  is  the  work  of  preparation 
which  it  accomplishes.  Hence,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  the  Law  must  precede  the  Gospel 
with  every  individual,  as  in  the  order  of  his- 
tory, the  Mosaic  law  prepared  the  Jewish 
nation  for  the  coming  of  Christ.  But,  since 
the  coming  of  Christ,  the  Gospel  itself  per- 
forms also  the  work  of  the  Law.  Christi- 
anity sets  before  men  the  highest  standard 
of  duty;  gives  them  a  moral  ideal  so  lofty, 
pure,  and  spiritual,  that  nothing  can  more 
thoroughly  reveal  the  difference  between  what 


122  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

they  ought  to  be,  and  what  they  are.  By 
exciting  to  moral  effort,  it  makes  clear  to  us 
this  difference.  Thus  the  Gospel,  the  chief 
work  of  which  is  to  make  man  one  with 
God,  has  a  subordinate  and  preparatory 
work  to  do  in  showing  him  his  separation 
from  God.  For  not  till  the  contradiction 
is  clearly  revealed  can  the  agreement  be 
effected.  Not  till  the  antithesis  is  brought 
out  can  the  synthesis  be  accomplished. 

§  62.    His  Efforts  to  do  Right  prepare  him  for  Forgiveness. 

We  see,  therefore,  that  faith  in  God's  for- 
giving love,  which  is  the  one  condition  of 
forgiveness,  is  nevertheless  itself  conditioned 
by  the  sense  of  sin.  But  this  sense  of  sin  has 
also  its  own  condition,  which  is  the  desire 
and  the  effort  to  attain  goodness.  Nothing 
but  a  sincere  desire  and  earnest  effort  to  be 
and  do  right  will  produce  a  real  conviction 
of  our  deficiencies.  Any  conviction  of  sin, 
not  based  on  this,  must  be  transient,  because 
superficial.     The  conscience  may  be  moment- 


OBSTACLES  AND   HELPS.  123 

arily  roused  by  descriptions  of  an  offended 
G'od  and  an  impending  doom.  But  when 
thus  awakened,  unless  a  genuine  desire  foi 
goodness  on  its  own  account  succeed,  the 
sense  of  sin  will  prove  itself  a  shallow  im- 
pression, not  a  permanent  conviction.  But 
every  sincere  wish  and  prayer  for  goodness, 
every  earnest  attempt  to  fulfil  difficult  duty, 
is  sure  to  help  on  our  spiritual  progress,  either 
directly  or  indirectly.  By  one  road  or  an- 
other, every  such  effort  brings  us  nearer  to 
God.  If  the  effort  to  do  right  succeeds,  it 
goes  to  form  a  righteous  habit  of  mind,  in- 
creases our  moral  purity,  and  so  brings  us 
nearer  to  God  by  the  direct  road  of  moral 
likeness  to  him.  K  the  effort  fails,  it  shows 
us  our  own  weakness,  marks  the  amount  of 
separation  between  the  soul  and  God,  pro- 
duces a  conviction  of  sin,  and  so  prepares  for 
our  union  with  God  by  the  indirect  road  of 
faith  and  forgiveness.  Hence  it  is  that  purity 
of  heart  is  made  the  blessed  condition  of  the 
sight  of  God.     Hence  the  hunger  and  thirst 


124  OBSTACLES  AND   HELPS. 

after  righteousness  is  blessed  with  the  promise 
of  satisfaction.  Faith,  therefore,  is  the  only- 
condition  of  forgiveness ;  but  it  implies  a 
true  humility,  and  a  sincere  desire  for  good- 
ness. 

§  53.    Repentance :  its  relation  to  Faith. 

It  will  be  asked.  Is  not  Repentance  also  a 
condition  of  Forgiveness?  Unquestionably 
it  is ;  but  it  need  not  be  mentioned  separately, 
since  our  description  of  faith  includes  it. 
Repentance  is  simply  turning  from  sin  to 
God.  But  he  who  comes  to  God  in  trusting 
reliance,  humbly  conscious  of  his  sin,  earnestly 
desiring  goodness,  has  evidently,  in  this  act 
of  faith,  also  performed  the  act  of  repentance. 
Repentance  and  faith  thus  appear  to  be  the 
two  sides  of  the  same  act  of  the  soul  in  turn- 
ing to  God.  Considered  in  relation  to  sin, 
it  is  repentance.  Considered  in  relation  to 
God  and  the  good,  it  is  faith.  Like  the  mag- 
net, the  soul  is  repelled  on  the  one  side  arid 
attracted  on  the  other  at  the  same  moment ; 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  125 

repelled  from  evil,  and  attracted  by  goodness. 
But  it  is  one  and  the  same  polar  force  which 
acts  in  both  directions,  and  we  may  describe 
it  either  by  the  name  of  repentance,  or  by  the 
name  of  faith. 

§  54.    Is  Faith  Man's  Work  or  God's  Gift? 

But  we  have  now  reached  a  difficult  point 
of  inquiry.  This  act  of  faith  —  is  it  the  work 
of  man,  or  the  work  of  God?  Is  it  in  our 
power  to  have  faith,  if  we  will  ?  or  must  God 
help  us  to  it  by  a  divine  influence  ?  The 
scriptures  command  us  to  have  faith.  Jesus 
says,  ^^  Have  faith  in  God;^^  condemns  its 
absence,  rewards  its  presence.  On  the  other 
hand,  Paul  says  expressly,  that  it  is  "  by 
grace  "  we  "  are  saved  through  faith,  and  that 
not  of  ourselves^  hut  it  is  the  gift  of  Gody 
Yet  Paul  himself  commanded  the  jailer  at 
Philippi  to  "  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
And,  in  our  experience,  faith,  when  we  exer- 
cise it,  seems  to  be  our  own  act ;  and  yet  it 
often  seems  to  be   more   difficult  than   any 


126  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

thing  else.  There  are  times,  which  all  Chris- 
tians have  experienced,  in  which  faith  becomes 
almost  an  impossibility ;  in  which  we  can 
only  say,  "  Help  our  unbelief;"  in  which  God 
seems  to  have  withdrawn  that  love  which  is 
the  object  of  faith,  so  that  we  can  no  longer 
behold  it  or  lean  upon  it.  But,  at  such  times 
as  these,  we  usually  feel  that  we  can  only 
wait  on  the  Lord,  wait  his  time,  be  not  weary 
of  waiting,  and  cherish  and  hold  fast  the  little 
faith  that  we  have,  until  he  shall  give  us 
more.  Scripture,  therefore,  and  experience 
both  ascribe  Faith  to  man's  effort  and  to 
God's  gift;  and  both  seem  necessary  to  its 
production. 

§  55.    God  and  Man  concur  in  each  Act  of  Faith. 

Christian  experience  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment seem,  then,  to  bring  us  to  the  conclu- 
sion, that  faith  is  an  act  of  the  soul  in  which 
God  and  man  concur;  God  manifesting  his 
love,  and  man  relying  upon  it.  The  holy 
spirit,  or  that  inward  influence  which  is  rep- 


OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS.  127 

resented  as  coming  from  God  through  Christ, 
to  form  Christ  within  us,  shows  to  the  heart 
the  forgiving  love  of  God.  Our  work  is  to 
open  our  heart  to  receive  this  influence,  thank- 
fully to  accept  it,  firmly  to  repose  upon  it. 
The  act  of  faith,  therefore,  is  a  concurrent  act 
of  God  and  man:  the  objective  side,  or  the 
object  of  faith,  being  a  gift  of  God's  spirit; 
the  subjective  side,  or  the  reception  of  this 
love,  being  man's  work. 

§  56.    What  Man  can  do  for  himself,  and  where  he  must  stop. 

Still  the  question  recurs,  What,  and  how 
much,  can  man  do  ?  Let  us  suppose  a  case 
in  order  to  make  this  point  clear,  and  such  an 
one  as  continually  occurs  in  the  intercourse 
'  of  every  Christian  minister  with  the  members 
of  his  society.  A  young  man  or  a  young 
woman  comes  to  him,  and  says,  "  I  wish  to 
be  better  than  I  am ;  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  be ; 
I  wish  to  be  a  Christian;  I  have  tried  to 
be  one;  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  daily 
duties  in  a  Christian  spirit.     But  I  seem  to 


128  OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS. 

make  no  progress ;  I  feel  as  far  from  God  as 
ever ;  my  heart  is  cold ;  I  have  not  the  love 
for  God  which  I  wish  I  had,  nor  the  happi- 
ness in  my  duties  which  I  ought  to  have." 
Now,  if  what  we  have  thus  far  said  be  true, 
a  person  in  this  state  of  mind  has  the  con- 
viction of  sin  of  which  we  have  spoken,  and 
needs  the  sense  of  forgiveness.  He  needs  to 
be  reconciled  to  God  by  the  reception  of 
God's  forgiving  love.  Say  this  to  him,  there- 
fore, and  convince  him  of  it,  —  convince  him 
that  Christ  came  to  bring  pardon  to  those  in 
just  his  state  of  mind,  and  that  in  this  pardon 
he  will  find  both  the  love,  the  joy,  and  the 
strength  he  needs.  Let  us  suppose  him  to 
be  convinced  of  this,  and  he  says,  "  How  shall 
I  obtain  this  forgiveness?"  You  answer, 
"  By  Faith.  That  is  the  whole.  Have  faith 
in  God's  forgiving  love."  But  he  answers 
again,  "  This  is  the  very  diificulty.  I  have 
no  faith.  I  cannot  exercise  it,  because  1  do 
not  possess  it.  This  is  just  what  I  want." 
The  minister  naturally  replies  to  this,  "  Then 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  129 

pray  for  it,"  and  quotes  the  promises  of  Christ 
to  show  that  God  will  always  give  his  holy 
spirit  to  those  who  ask  him.  He  answers, 
"But,  to  pray  aright,  I  must  pray  in  faith; 
and,  when  you  tell  me  to  pray,  you  suppose 
me  already  to  possess  that  which  I  am  seek- 
ing." Now,  the  minister  may  properly  and 
justly  encourage  this  inquirer  to  believe  that 
he  has  some  faith  at  least,  if  it  be  only  like 
a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  and  by  means  of  this 
he  may  obtain  more.  But  the  minister  may 
do  something  more  than  this.  He  may  con- 
tinue to  press  upon  the  inquirer  all  the  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  and  all  the  facts  which  his 
experience  has  made  him  acquainted  with,  by 
which  to  enable  this  Seeker  to  believe  in 
God's  present  forgiving  love.  He  will  be  to 
him  what  Ambrose  was  to  Augustine,  what 
Staupitz  was  to  Luther,  what  Peter  Bohler 
and  the  Moravians  were  to  Wesley,- — he 
will  be  a  mediator,  by  means  of  the  faith 
which  he  has  himself  received,  to  produce  a 
like  faith  in  the  mind  of  the  other.     When  he 

9 


130  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

can  do  nothing  else,  he  can  kneel  down,  and 
pray  with  him  and  for  him,  and  thus  may  be 
the  means  of  increasing  his  faith,  and  enabling 
him  to  pray  himself. 

§  57.     The  Work  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Now  this  account  illustrates  the  work  which 
THE  Christian  Church  has  to  do  with  for- 
giveness. The  Christian  Church  may  be 
regarded  as  the  body  of  Christy  by  which  his 
spirit  still  acts  upon  the  earth  to  create  faith 
in  human  souls ;  or  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 
channel  through  which  that  principle  of  life 
which  entered  the  world  with  Christ  has  con- 
tinued to  flow  on  from  age  to  age.  The 
Church,  in  its  ideal  character,  is  thus  the 
medium  by  which  Christ  communicates  him- 
self to  the  world.  And  all  actual  churches 
are  living  and  true  churches,  just  in  propor- 
tion as  they  approximate  to  this  ideal.  The 
Church  has  a  twofold  work;  first,  to  the 
"World;  and,  second,  to  its  own  members. 
In  relation  to  the  World,  its  work  is  Evan- 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  131 

gelical  and  Missionary;  and  its  object  is  to 
convert  it  and  to  humanize  it.  In  relation 
to  its  own  members,  its  duty  is  edification 
and  consolation,  —  to  make  them  strong  and 
to  make  them  happy.  Now,  the  means  by 
which  it  accomplishes  these  objects  are  not 
exhausted  when  we  have  named  Preaching 
and  Teaching,  Public  Worship,  Prayer  and 
Praise,  Social  meetings,  and  Meetings  for 
active  benevolence.  Its  chief  means  and  its 
highest  prerogative  remain  unspoken ;  for 
these  are  both  to  be  found  in  its  own  living 
faith.  It  is  faith  which  produces  faith.  There 
is  a  text  in  the  New  Testament  long  perverted 
to  the  support  of  outward  Church  authority 
and  formal  ecclesiastical  pretensions,  which 
in  its  true  sense  shows  us  wherein  consists 
the  essential  power  and  real  authority  of  the 
Christian  Church.  We  read  (Matt.  xvi.  13), 
that  Jesus  on  one  occasion  asked  one  of  his 
disciples  what  was  said  of  him;  and  when 
Peter  gave  as  his  own  testimony  this  declara- 
tion, "  Thou  art  the   Christ,  the  Son  of  the 


132  OBSTACLES   AND    HELPS. 

living  God,"  Jesus  answered,  "Blessed  art 
thou,  Simon  Barjonah ;  for  flesh  and  blood 
have  not  revealed  this  to  thee,  but  my  Father 
who  is  in  Heaven."  He  had  not  been  taught 
it  by  man,  but  by  God.  It  was  not  a  hearsay 
opinion,  but  a  personal  conviction.  It  was 
not  a  Belief  resting  on  the  testimony  of 
others,  but  a  Faith,  the  object  of  which  was 
a  divine  revelation  to  his  soul.  So  likewise 
Paul  says  (Gal.  i.  16),  "  When  it  pleased  God 
to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  I  conferred  not  with 
flesh  and  blood."  Then  Jesus,  proceeding, 
declares  that  upon  this  rock-like  faith  in 
Peter,  and  in  the  other  apostles,  he  would 
build  his  Church;  digging  deep  through  the 
soil  of  opinion,  and  the  shifting  sand  of  a 
hearsay  belief,  down  to  a  solid,  God-inspired 
faith.  Then  he  adds,  "  I  will  give  to  thee  the 
Keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven ;  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose 
on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  Tiie 
promise  here  made  to  Peter  is  repeated  (Matt, 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  183 

xviii.  18)  to  all  the  disciples.  What,  then,  is 
this  power  ?  It  is  the  power  which  faith  has 
of  creating  faith.  It  is  itself  the  key  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  by  which  the  door  may 
be  bound  or  loosed ;  that  is,  opened  or  shut. 
In  the  order  of  Providence,  it  depends  upon 
him  to  whom  God  has  given  faith,  whether 
others  around  him  shall  have  faith  or  be  with- 
out it.  If  he  is  true  to  his  faith,  if  his  life  is 
rooted  in  it,  if  his  words  are  colored  by  it,  if 
his  tone  and  temper  are  constantly  informed 
by  this  pure  and  subtle  spirit,  then  he  carries 
with  him  a  sphere  of  influence  by  which  to 
produce  a  like  faith  in  all  who  are  prepared 
to  receive  it.  God  to  him  is  no  name,  but 
a  reality;  Christ,  not  an  historical  Messiah, 
but  a  present  Saviour ;  eternal  life,  no  future, 
but  a  present  immortality.  By  the  contagion 
of  this  faith,  he  awakens  like  convictions  in 
other  minds;  and  to  them  also  God  in  the 
Soul,  Righteousness,  Eternity,  and  Heaven 
come  forth  from  the  region  of  abstractions 
into  that  of  realities.     This  is  the  true  key  to 


134  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

the  kingdom  of  Heaven ;  and,  in  the  famous 
passage  to  which  we  give  this  interpretation, 
Jesus  is  impressing  the  responsibility  which 
rests  upon  those  who  have  this  key  of  faith 
in  their  possession.  So  surely  as  they  neglect 
to  use  it,  the  door  of  heaven  remains  closed. 
And  those  who,  by  the  sight  of  their  faith, 
might  have  been  quickened  into  a  new  life, 
remain,  through  their  negligence,  where  they 
were  before.  This  responsibility  and  privilege 
belongs  not  to  Peter  alone,  nor  to  the  Apos- 
tles alone j  nor  to  bishops,  priests,  and  preach- 
ers alone,  but  to  every  man  to  whose  heart, 
as  to  that  of  Peter,  God  has  made  a  revelation 
of  the  reality  of  spiritual  things.  But,  with 
regard  to  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  sphere,  duty, 
and  work  of  the  living  Church  is  declared  in 
that  other  famous  passage  (John,  xx.  22,  23), 
where  we  read  that  Jesus  after  his  resurrection 
said  to  his  disciples,  "  As  my  Father  hath 
sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you;"  and  then, 
breathing  on  them,  added,  "  Receive  the  Holy 
Ghost.     Whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remit- 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  135 

ted;  and  whose  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained."  It  is  evident  that  Jesus  could  not 
have  intended  to  give  to  his  disciples  the 
power  of  deciding  arbitrarily  whose  sins 
should  be  forgiven,  and  whose  not.  So  evi- 
dent indeed  is  this,  that  even  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  never  ventured  to  claim  for  its 
priesthood  any  such  power.  The  priestly 
absolution  depends  for  its  efficacy,  according 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrine,  upon  the 
state  of  mind  of  the  penitent.  If  the  peni- 
tence is  not  sincere,  the  absolution  goes  for 
nothing.*  Accordingly,  the  power  to  for- 
give sins  claimed  by  the  Roman  priesthood 
amounts  only  to  this,  that  they  may  tell  a 
man  who  confesses  his  sins,  that,  if  his  peni- 
tence is  sincere,  his  sin  is  forgiven.  But  the 
words  of  Christ  seem  to  imply  more  than 
this.'     They  seem  to  imply,  that  as   Christ 

*  The  sacrament  of  Penance,  according  to  the  Council  of 
Trent  (fourteenth  Session),  has,  on  the  part  of  the  penitent,  three 
essential  acts,  namely,  of  Contrition,  Confession,  and  Satisfac- 
tion; and,  on  the  part  of  the  Priest,  the  absolving  words, 
"I  absolve  thee." 


136  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

was  the  medium  by  whom  God  has  commu- 
nicated to  the  world  forgiveness ;  so,  too,  his 
disciples  are  the  media  through  whom  Christ 
communicates  forgiveness  Now,  we  see  that 
this  is  actually  the  fact,  if  the  condition 
of  forgiveness  be  faith,  and  if  the  faith  of 
one  be  the  means  of  producing  faith  in 
another.  This  being  so,  the  words  of  Christ 
must  be  understood  as  teaching  the  great 
privilege  and  responsibility  of  those  who 
thus  become,  in  the  order  of  Providence, 
the  necessary  instruments  and  agencies  for 
communicating  to  others  the  forgiving  love 
of  God. 

§  58.    The  Twofold  Work  of  the  Church  in  Forgiveness. 

The  work  of  the  Church  in  the  Forgive- 
ness of  Sin  is  twofold.  First,  by  preaching 
the  Law  to  awaken  the  desire  for  goodness, 
the  effort  for  obedience,  and  the  sense  of 
separation  from  God ;  and,  secondly,  by 
preaching  the  Gospel,  to  produce  the  knowl- 
edge   of   forgiveness,    and   to    communicate, 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  137 

through  its  own  faith,  that  faith  which  will 
bring  pardon.  To  those  who  are  already- 
seeking  for  pardon  and  faith,  the  Church 
should  feel  itself  to  be  the  appointed  and 
natural  agency  by  which  pardon  is  to  be  ob- 
tained. When  the  seeker  is  unable  to  have 
faith  for  himself,  the  Church  should  have  faith 
for  him.  When  he  is  discouraged,  the  Church 
should  have  courage  for  him.  When  he 
would  despair,  the  Church  should  hope  for 
him.  When  he  cannot  pray  for  himself,  the 
Church  should  pray  for  him.  For  if  the  Church 
has  faith  in  forgiveness  and  in  the  power  of 
prayer,  it  should  exercise  that  faith  on  behalf 
of  those  who  are  unable  to  exercise  it  for 
themselves.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  this  is 
what  all  sincere  and  practical  Christians 
actually  endeavor  to  do.  In  all  churches 
there  are  those  who,  by  their  words  and  their 
prayers,  endeavor  to  bring  faith  to  those  who 
need  it ;  and  A*  /  thus  become  in  reality  the 
means  by  whic!^  it  is  obtained.  But  what  is 
wanted  is,  that  the  whole  Christian  Church 


138  OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS. 

should  understand  that  these  efforts  are  its 
legitimate  work,  and  that  it  should  reverently 
and  joyfully  accept  the  great  privilege  to 
which  its  Master  has  called  it.  And  also  that 
it  should  do  its  work,  not  occasionally  as  a 
doubtful  experiment,  but  in  the  conviction 
that  it  has  been  made  the  certain  and  ap- 
pointed channel  through  which  faith  and 
forgiveness  shall  come.  When  the  Christian 
Church  has  learned  its  duties  and  privileges, 
it  will  be  able  to  show  to  each  seeking  soul 
the  way  of  Salvation,  and  enable  him  to 
enter  it.  It  will  be  able  to  remove  all  doubt 
and  all  uncertainty  as  to  what  each  one  must 
do  to  be  saved.  As  the  types  and  shadows 
of  the  Jewish  ritual  were  fulfilled  by  the 
realities  of  the  Gospel,  so  will  the  Roman 
Catholic  sacrament  of  confession  and  absolu- 
tion be  fulfilled  by  the  Church,  which  has 
become  the  medium  of  communicating,  not 
an  external  and  formal  Remission  of  Sins, 
bat  an  inward  and  real  Sense  of  Pardon. 
For  this  sacrament,  which  has  come  down 


OBSTACLES   AND   HELPS.  139 

from  the  middle  ages,  will  stand  as  a  symbol 
till  it  is  replaced  by  the  reality,  —  will  remain 
as  a  promise  till  it  is  removed  by  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise.  Men  go  to  the  Catho- 
lic Church  because  it  seems  to  offer  them  a 
surer  outward  aid  and  help.  But  this  help 
is  formal,  technical,  not  living  and  human. 
Something  greater  and  better  is  needed; 
and  something  better,  as  God  lives,  shall 
yet  come. 


PART   V. 


RESULTS  OF  FORGITENESS. 


§  59.    The  New  Life  growing  out  of  Forgiven  Sin. 

"We  next  pass  on  to  consider  the  nature  of 
the  new  life  growing  out  of  forgiveness.  For 
Christianity  in  the  soul  is,  in  the  strict  and 
literal  sense,  a  new  life.  And  by  this  we 
mean,  not  merely  a  new  course  of  action  and 
conduct,  but  the  formation  of  a  new  vital 
principle.  As  the  temporal  life  of  man  or 
animal  consists,  not  merely  in  outward  ac- 
tions, but  also  in  an  invisible  principle  by 
which  those  actions  are  prompted ;  so  the 
spiritual  life  consists,  not  merely  in  new  ef- 
forts and  actions,  but  in  the  possession  of  a 
new  principle,  out  of  which  these  actions  nat- 
urally flow.  Therefore  Christianity,  as  to  its 
[140] 


RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  141 

inward  principle  in  the  soul,  is  constantly 
described  in  the  New  Testament  as  a  life,. 
This  eternal  life  is  not  merely  immortality  in 
the  future  world,  for  it  is  spoken  of  as  a  gift 
specially  bestowed  wpon  Christians  as  the 
consequence  of  their  faith  (John,  iii.  15,  vi. 
47) ;  nor  is  it  the  future  happiness  of  the  good 
hereafter  alone,  for  it  is  spoken  of  as  some- 
thing abiding  in  the  soul  here  (John,  vi.  54, 
47,  V.  24).  The  analogy  of  the  spiritual  life 
to  temporal  life  appears  in  many  particulars. 
As  temporal  life  begins  with  our  birth,  so  the 
spiritual  life  begins  with  the  new  birth.  As 
the  temporal  life  is  supported  by  food,  so  the 
spiritual  life  has  its  food  also,  which  is  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  in  other  words,  his 
whole  human  history,  his  active  and  passive 
virtue,  his  energy  to  do,  and  his  patience  to 
bear;  which  must  be  not  merely  looked  at, 
thought  about,  and  remembered,  but,  like  the 
food  which  we  take  into  the  body,  become  a 
part  of  ourselves.  As  our  earthly  existence 
is  divided  Into  rest  and  labor,  repose  and  ac- 


142  RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

tion,  night  and  day ;  so  the  spiritual  life  con- 
sists of  alternations  of  faith  and  works,  trust 
and  obedience,  prayer  and  labor,  quiet  wait- 
ing and  active  obedience.  In  our  temporal 
life  we  are  surrounded  by  Nature ;  by  sky 
and  earth ;  mountain,  forest,  and  ocean ;  drift- 
ing clouds,  falling  rains,  the  vegetable  and 
animal  worlds ;  and  the  speaking  face  of  man 
and  woman.  In  our  spiritual  life  we  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  Spiritual  World  of  holy  truths, 
gentle  affections,  far-reaching  hopes,  noble 
aims,  and  sympathies  wide  as  the  world.  As 
the  vital  principle  of  plant  or  bird  shows 
itself  especially  in  the  fact  of  growth,  so  one 
characteristic  of  the  spiritual  life  is  develop- 
ment and  progress.  The  largest  definition, 
perhaps,  which  can  be  given  of  the  term  life, 
is  DEVELOPMENT.  All  life  is  the  development, 
unfolding,  growth,  of  a  germ ;  and  life  is  thus 
the  perpetual  unfolding  of  the  hidden  princi- 
ple of  each  seed,  according  to  its  own  laws, 
under  certain  external  influences.  These  in- 
fluences are  all  attractions:   the  seed  of  the 


RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  143 

plant  is  developed  by  the  attractions  of  light, 
heat,  air,  water,  earth.  The  life  of  the  animal 
is  developed  by  the  attractions  of  food,  the 
joy  of  muscular  motion,  and  similar  pleas- 
ures. Man's  soul  is  developed,  as  regards  this 
life,  by  the  various  objects  which  attract  his 
desires  and  passions.  The  law  of  life,  there- 
fore, is  development ;  and  development  takes 
place  under  the  influence  of  those  external 
objects  whose  attractions  awaken  the  latent 
appetite.  Just  so  the  spiritual  life  is  the  de- 
velopment of  the  spirit  by  the  attractions  of 
eternal  things,  which  awaken  love,  "All  life," 
says  Fichte,  "is  love.  He  who  loves  most, 
lives  most."  And  love,  therefore,  in  the  New 
Testament,  is  justly  made  the  essence  of  the 
spiritual  life.  We  have,  then,  this  correspon- 
dence complete  thus  far  between  the  temporal 
and  spiritual  life.  Each  has  a  principle  which 
is  to  develop  and  grow.  In  each  this  growth 
is  produced  by  the  attraction  of  external  ob- 
jects, which  awakens  Desire  in  the  one  case, 
and  in  the  other  desire  in  the  higher  form  of 


144  RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

Love.  The  organ  by  which  these  external, 
objects  are  perceived,  in  the  one  case,  is  the 
body  with  its  senses  ;  in  the  other,  that 
intuition  which  we  have  called  Faith.  If  it 
be  said  that  we  have  described  Faith  as  an 
act  rather  than  as  a  sights  as  reliance  on  love 
rather  than  as  the  perception  of  it,  —  we  may 
reply  that  the  correspondence  holds  good  even 
here ;  for  we  perceive  the  external  world  by 
an  active  sensation,  just  as  we  exercise  faith 
in  unseen  things  by  an  active  intuition. 

§  60.    The  Twofold  Character  of  this  Life,  and  of  Goodness 
generally. 

This  new  Life  in  the  Soul  is,  in  its  essence. 
Love  ;  and,  by  means  of  its  organ  Faith,  re- 
news itself  continually  from  on  High.  But 
this  Life  in  the  Soul  has  a  two:  i  character, 
and  acts  in  a  twofold  direction.  It  alternates 
between  labor  and  rest,  effort  and  repose, 
activity  and  receptivity,  obedience  to  the  law 
and  trust  in  the  gospel.  Christian  Goodness, 
therefore,  differs  from  the  Goodness  of  Na- 
ture in  being  principle^  and  from  the  Good- 


RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  145 

ness  of  Morality  in  being  spontaneous  ;  and  is 
the  purest  union  and  harmony  of  both  kinds. 
For  Goodness  in  general  is  of  these  two 
kinds,  consisting  of  Intention  on  the  one  side, 
and  Character  on  the  other.  The  Goodness 
of  Morality  or  Intention  consists  in  effort, 
struggle,  and  conflict;  and  is  esteemed  great 
in  proportion  to  the  temptation  resisted,  the 
trial  borne,  the  obstacle  encountered,  the  diffi- 
culty overcome.  The  Goodness  of  Nature  or 
Character  is  not  conffict,  but  harmony;  not 
struggle,  but  attainment.  It  consists  in  nat- 
ural good  tendencies  and  pure  tastes,  or  in 
acquired  habits  of  goodness.  The  Goodness 
of  Intention  is  meritorious ;  the  Goodness  of 
Attainment  is  beautiful.  We  respect  the 
first;  we  love  the  second.  The  absence  of 
one  implies  guilt;  the  absence  of  the  other 
implies  depravity.  He  who  does  not  try  to 
do  right  and  to  become  good  is  guilty.  He 
who  has  no  love  for  goodness,  no  true,  kind, 
and  noble  tendencies,  is  depraved.  The  seat 
of  the  one  is  the  conscience  or  will;  the 
10 


146  RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

seat  of  the  other  is  the  instinct  or  natural 
tendencies.  Now,  the  will  is  determined  to- 
ward goodness  through  the  conscience.  We 
choose  goodness  because  we  feel  that  we 
ought  to  do  so.  The  heart  is  determined  to- 
ward goodness  by  its  perception  of  moral 
duty.  We  love  goodness  because  it  appears 
to  us  beautiful.  The  conscience  is  com- 
manded ;  the  desires,  instincts,  tendencies, 
are  attracted.  All  which  commands  the  will 
through  the  conscience,  we  may  call  the  Law; 
and  all  which  attracts  the  Affections  toward 
goodness  by  a  manifestation  of  its  Beauty, 
we  may  call  the  Gospel. 

That  this  distinction  is  real,  and  no  mere 
distinction  of  words,  will  appear  if  we  con- 
sider how  often  these  two  kinds  of  Goodness 
are  found  separate.  Many  good  men  have 
no  beauty  in  their  goodness ;  and  many  beau- 
tiful characters  have  no  strength  with  their 
beauty.  We  esteem  the  first,  but  are  unable 
to  love  them;  we  are  attracted  toward  the 
last,  but  cannot  esteem  them. 


RESULTS   OP   FORGIYENESS.  147 

Now,  it  has  been  a  usual  fault,  both  with 
moral  and  religious  teachers,  first,  not  to  no- 
tice and  distinguish  these  two  different  kinds 
of  goodness ;  or,  secondly,  to  undervalue  the 
Goodness  of  Nature  and  tendency,  when  com- 
pared with  that  of  Resolve  and  effort.  As,  in 
the  fable  of  "  The  Lion  and  the  Painter,"  the 
Lion  was  always  represented  as  conquered 
by  the  man,  because  the  man  was  always  the 
painter;  so  here  it  has  happened,  that  the 
Moralist  has  always  overestimated  the  good- 
ness of  morality.  The  Instincts  and  the  Af- 
fections do  not  write  moral  treatises.  The 
conscious,  intelligent,  deliberate  purpose  of 
Right-doing  is  more  apt  to  appear  in  our 
ethical  writings  than  the  spontaneous  and 
unpremeditated  goodness  which  never  thinks 
of  composing  its  own  biography.  Some  Mor- 
alists and  Theologians  even  go  so  far  as  to 
make  all  goodness  to  consist  in  conscious, 
deliberate  effort  and  struggle.  But  not  only 
is  this  palpably  false,  but  it  is  also  evident 
that  the    Goodness  of   Intention    is    by  no 


148  BESULTS  OP  FORGIVENESS. 

means  superior  to  the  Goodness  of  Ten* 
dency.  For,  if  it  were,  it  would  follow  that 
a  sinner  struggling  against  his  sin,  struggling 
against  foul  habits  and  depraved  appetites,  is 
better  than  that  soul,  angel-born  and  angel- 
bred,  which  knows  no  such  struggle,  because 
its  tastes  are  all  pure,  and  its  appetites  not 
depraved.  Moreover,  it  would  follow  that  the 
worst  of  sinners,  provided  he  was  struggling 
against  his  sin,  is  better  than  the  highest 
saint  or  angel  nearest  God's  throne,  whose 
soul  tends  steadily  towards  truth  and  good- 
ness ; 

"  Whose  love  is  an  unerring  light, 
Whose  joy,  its  own  security." 

Further  still,  we  must  ask  what  struggle 
and  conflict  there  can  be  in  the  Goodness  of 
God.  His  Goodness,  doubtless,  is  conscious 
and  deliberate;  but  he  is  not  tempted  with 
evil,  and  can  have  no  conflicts  with  himself. 
The  Goodness  of  God,  toward  which  good 
men  aim,  is  not  a  goodness  of  conflict  and 
struggle.     And,  further  still,  if  we   say  that 


BESULTS  OP  PORGIYENBSS.  149 

the  goodness  of  effort  is  higher  than  that  of 
tendency,  we  are  brought  to  the  paradoxical 
conclusion  that  a  man  grows  worse  as  he 
grows  better.  For,  as  he  grows  better,  he 
finds  it  easier  to  do  right,  his  moral  tastes  be- 
come stronger,  his  evil  appetites  weaker,  he 
is  attracted  more  and  more  toward  all  things 
excellent,  and  consequently  there  is  less  of 
effort,  and  more  of  impulse,  in  his  goodness. 
The  probable  result,  therefore,  of  these  con- 
siderations is,  that  there  are  these  two  kinds 
of  goodness,  and  that  they  are  equally  ven- 
erable and  holy. 

§  61.    The  Christian  Life  the  Synthesis  of  both  kinds  of  Goodness. 

The  essential  peculiarity  of  the   Christian 
Life  is,  that  it  is  the  complete  harmony,  the 

ABSOLUTE  SYNTHESIS  OF  BOTH  KINDS  OP  GOOD- 
NESS. It  distinguishes  them,  in  order  that  it 
may  unite  them.  It  is  able  to  unite  them,  be- 
cause it  has  first  distinguished  them.  Chris- 
tian faith,  revealing  the  high  Law  of  God^ 
awakens  the  conscience,  and  rouses  the  wiU 


150  RESULTS   OF  FORGIVENESS. 

to  effort  to  overcome  all  evil.  Christian  faith, 
revealing  the  abounding  Love  of  God^  creates 
new  affections,  and  attracts  the  soul  upward, 
ascending  by  its  proper  motion.  The  love  of 
God  moves  us  to  effort ;  the  effort  enables  us 
more  entirely  to  rely  upon  and  realize  His 
love.  Faith  and  Works ;  Love  and  Labor ; 
Prayer  and  Action;  the  Reception  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Endeavor  to  impart  it, 
—  these  follow  each  other  like  Day  and  Night ; 
repose  preparing  us  for  labor,  and  labor  for 
repose.  In  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  clause, 
"  Thy  will  be  done,"  has  in  all  ages  received 
a  double  interpretation ;  as  being  either  a 
prayer  for  all  men,  that  they  may  obey  God ; 
or  as  being  an  act  of  personal  submission. 
Probably  it  includes  both  meanings;  and  so 
the  Christian,  in  every  moment  of  his  Chris- 
tian life,  may  unite  the  sense  of  responsibility 
and  the  sense  of  dependence,  obedience,  and 
love.  His  aim  is,  by  his  every  act  and  his 
total  influence,  to  advance  the  kingdom  of 
Christ ;  but  to  do  this  by  becoming,  in  every 


RESULTS   OF  FORGIVENESS.  151 

act,  and  in  his  total  influence,  the  organ  by 
which  Christ  shall  act,  the  channel  through 
which  Christ's  influence  shall  flow. 

§  62.    The  Evil  of  Cultivating  exclusively  the  Goodness  of  Effort. 

Now,  what  is  the  harm  of  aiming  exclu- 
sively or  chiefly  at  working  out  our  own  salva- 
tion^ that  is,  of  cultivating  exclusively  the 
goodness  of  Intention  or  Eflbrt? 

The  first  evil  is,  that  we  are  led  to .  look  at 
ourselves,  instead  of  looking  at  God.  Our 
own  duties,  our  own  responsibilities,  our  own 
sins,  our  own  virtues,  fill  our  mind.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  sight  of  these  things  to  ani- 
mate us;  all  are  discouraging  and  gloomy 
subjects  of  thought.  They  shut  us  up  in  a 
very  narrow  circle.  They  produce  a  morbid 
anxiety  about  our  condition;  a  spiritual  hy- 
pochondria. They  produce  a  refined  selfish- 
ness. We  become  the  centre  and  pivot  of  all 
transactions  and  events ;  we  are  of  the  great- 
est consequence  in  our  own  eyes ;  we  are 
perpetually  contemplating  ourselves.     There 


152  RESULTS   OP   FORGIVENESS. 

is  a  spiritual  egotism,  and  a  religious  selfish- 
ness, which  is  almost  as  bad  as  the  selfishness 
of  the  worldling.  To  think  of  our  own  soul 
continually  is  perhaps  better  than  not  to  think 
of  it  at  all,  but  only  somewhat  better. 

Again :  By  aiming  exclusively  at ,  working 
for  God  and  earning  our  own  salvation,  we 
accustom  ourselves  to  regard  God  in  one  of 
his  attributes  exclusively,  —  that  of  Justice. 
He  becomes  to  us  an  inexorable  Law;  and 
an  inexorable  Law  is  only  a  little  better  than 
a  merciless  Fate.  This  is  the  great  evil  of 
Calvinism.  It  sees  God  as  Law,  and  not  as 
Love ;  it  regards  all  goodness  as  in  the  mo- 
tive, none  as  in  the  character.  It  cannot  rec- 
ognize goodness  as  beauty:  it  recognizes  it 
only  as  intention.  But  what  an  immense  in- 
jury is  it  to  the  human  heart  to  see  God 
habitually  as  a  Judge,  and  not  as  a  Father! 
For  all  the  best  affections  are  frozen  at  their 
source,  when  we  fail  to  see  that  his  essential 
Being  is  based  in  Love,  —  free,  unlimited, 
ever-active  Love.     But  not   only   Calvinism, 


RESULTS   OP   FORGIYENESS.  153 

but  also  its  opposite,  Unitarianism,  often  fails 
in  this  same  point.  The  idea  of  Justice  eclip- 
ses that  of  Love  in  the  view  of  both  systems. 
Both  tend  to  separate  from  God,  and  to  de- 
stroy the  habit  of  filial  affection,  by  seeing 
him  too  exclusively  as  the  supporter  of  a 
Moral  Order,  and  the  avenger  of  the  broken 
law. 

For  these  and  other  reasons,  we  see  that 
the  effort  to  do  right  does  not  necessarily  lead 
to  the  happy,  spontaneous,  and  loving  prac- 
tice of  goodness.  This  is  to  be  found,  not  in 
the  Law,  but  in  the  Gospel ;  not  in  the  sight 
of  Duty,  but  in  the  sight  of  Love.  It  is 
aff*ectionate,  filial  gratitude  for  unbought,  un- 
earned mercy.  It  is  the  great  love  of  him  who 
has  been  forgiven  much.  It  is  the  overflow- 
ing affection  of  the  Prodigal,  whose  Father 
has  received  him  on  his  return,  not  with  se- 
verity, but  with  rejoicing.  It  comes  from  the 
sight  of  the  infinite  beauty  scattered  through 
the  world,  the  blessed  face  of  nature,  the 
warm  and  glowing  heart  of  humanity,  the 


154  RESULTS   OF  FORGIVENESS. 

infinite  adaptations  throughout  the  universe 
for  the  comfort,  education,  and  blessing  of 
God's  creatures.  To  look  out  of  ourselves 
and  away  from  ourselves ;  away  from  our 
narrow  virtues  and  our  small  attainments; 
away  from  our  dangers,  our  sinfulness,  our 
folly ;  to  look  wholly  away  from  ourselves,  and 
to  gaze  constantly  at  the  fulness  of  beauty 
and  goodness  in  the  creation  and  providence 
of  God,  —  will  not  this  touch  the  cold  heart, 
and  moisten  the  dry  eye,  with  an  humble  and 
grateful  tear  ?  "  If,"  says  a  recent  author,  "  if, 
for  every  rebuke  we  utter  of  men's  vices,  we 
put  forth  a  claim  upon  their  hearts;  if,  for 
every  assertion  of  God's  demands  from  them, 
we  could  substitute  a  display  of  his  kindness 
to  them ;  if,  side  by  side  with  every  warning 
of  death,  we  could  exhibit  proofs  and  promi- 
ses of  immortality ;  if,  in  fine,  instead  of  as- 
suming the  being  of  an  awful  Deity,  which 
men,  though  they  cannot  and  dare  not  deny, 
are  always  unwilling,  sometimes  unable,  to 
conceive,  we  were  to  show  them  a  near,  visi- 


EESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  155 

ble,  inevitable,  but  all-beneficent  Deity,  whose 
presence  makes  the  earth  itself  a  heaven,  I 
think  there  would  be  fewer  deaf  children  sit- 
ting in  the  market-place."  • 

§  63.    Forgiveness  the  Practical  Solution  of  the  Problem  of 
Evil. 

The  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness,  as  stated  in 
this  essay,  is  the  practical  solution  of  the 
great  problem  of  moral  evil.  The  question, 
"  How  can  the  existence  of  evil  be  reconciled 
with  the  perfections  of  the  Deity  ?  "  is  a  ques- 
tion to  which  no  intellectual  theory  can  fur- 
nish any  adequate  reply.  Every  Theodicee, 
from  that  of  Leibnitz  to  the  last  Essay  on 
Moral  Evil  in  our  theological  journals,  makes 
out  its  explanation,  either  by  explaining  away 
the  Reality  of  Evil,  or  by  explaining  away  the 
Perfections  of  the  Deity.  But,  though  no 
speculative  solution  of  this  problem  can  be 
offered  to  the  intellect,  a  practical  solution 
is  offered  to  the  moral  nature  in  the  doctrine 
of  forgiven  sin.  For  sin,  when  forgiven,  pro- 
duces a  deeper  and  more  ardent  love  to  God 


156  BESULTS   OP    FORGIVENESS. 

than  would  have  existed  if  there  had  been  no 
sin.  As  charcoal,  the  darkest  substance  in 
nature,  is  the  basis  of  the  diamond,  which  is 
the  most  brilliant;  so  Sin  is  the  base  and 
dark  material  which,  by  the  power  of  God's 
forgiving  love,  is  transformed  into  the  bright- 
est jewel  of  the  Heavenly  World.  Sin  thus 
becomes  the  occasion  of  developing  a  divine 
perfection  which  otherwise  would  never  have 
been  known,  and  a  human  virtue  which  with- 
out it  would  never  have  existed.  This  is  no 
answer  to  the  speculative  difficulty;  for  the 
inquiry  may  always  still  be  made,  "  Why 
could  not  the  same  end  have  been  reached  by 
a  perfect  being  in  some  other  way?"  But 
the  heart  which  perceives  that  by  this  myste- 
rious alchemy  all  its  evil  has  been  swallowed 
up  in  good,  and  its  sins  made  the  Substance 
of  holiness,  can  rest  well  satisfied  here.  The 
difficulty  which  perplexed  the  heart  is  gone, 
and  there  only  remain  admiring  Wonder  and 
grateful  Joy. 


RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  157 

§  64.    And  of  the  Problem  of  Human  Freedom  and   Divine 
Providence. 

And  the  Doctrine  of  Grace,  of  which  the 
Doctrine  of  Forgiveness  is  a  part,  contains 
also  the  practical  solution  of  the  problem  of 
the  Divine  Providence  as  in  conflict  with 
Human  Freedom.  This  problem  also  arises 
from  the  fact  that  man's  mind  can  see  at 
once  truths  of  eternity  and  facts  of  time,  and 
is  therefore  incapable  of  speculative  solution. 
Every  attempt  must  fail;  because,  as  finite 
beings,  we  cannot  comprehend  that  which,  as 
connected  with  the  infinite  world,  we  are  able 
to  see  and  know.  Therefore,  all  attempts  at 
a  theoretical  solution  of  the  difficulty  end 
either  in  denying  the  Divine  Providence,  or 
in  denying  the  Freedom  of  man.  But  the 
practical  solution  is  obtained,  when  we  per- 
ceive that  while  man  is  allowed  freelv  to 
choose  evil,  and  to  obey  unrighteousness,  the 
Divine  purpose,  which  is  his  sanctification 
and  redemption,  is  obtained  at  last  even  by 
means  of  that  very  unrighteousness  and  evil. 


158  RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

The  Divine  Providence  which  chooses  man 
for  goodness  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  and  determines  his  happiness,  is  mag- 
nified when  we  see  how  all  paths,  however 
circuitous,  tend  to  the  same  end.  In  every 
moment  of  time,  man  is  free  by  nature  to 
obey  or  to  disobey;  to  choose  the  right  or 
the  wrong ;  to  go  toward  God  or  from  Him. 
But,  while  the  right  choice  brings  the  soul 
immediately  and  directly  to  God,  the  wrong 
choice  tends  the  same  way,  though  mediately 
and  indirectly.  The  circling  line,  sooner  or 
later,  must  return  into  itself  And  our  natu- 
ral freedom  consists  in  being  able  indefinitely, 
but  not  infinitely,  to  enlarge  the  circle,  and 
postpone  its  return.  In  the  fact  of  forgiven 
sin  we  discover  the  returning  bend  of  the 
circle,  and  see  the  certainty  of  the  apostolic 
declaration,  that  "  Every  knee  shall  bow,"  and 
that  ^'in  the  dispensation,  of  the  fulness  of 
times  God  will  gather  in  one  all  things  in 
Christ,  in  heaven  and  on  earth."  But  this 
Divine   Decree,   in   its   triumph,   also   exalts 


RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  159 

human  freedom  by  changing  natural  liberty 
(which  is  only  the  power  of  choice)  into 
spiritual  liberty,  which  includes  both  choice 
and  action.  The  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons 
of  God  is  the  liberty  both  to  will  and  to 
do  of  his  good  pleasure.  It  is  the  fulness  of 
life,  —  the  harmonious  activity  of  all  the 
powers  of  the  soul,  which  no  longer,  by  mu- 
tual conflict,  check  and  restrain  each  other. 
It  is  the  change  of  wilfulness^  which  is  as  the 
freedom  of  the  bird  pecking  at  the  bars  of  its 
cage,  into  th-e  will,  made  free  by  the  power 
of  truth  and  the  law  of  liberty, — which  is  like 
the  unhindered  flight  of  the  eagle,  who  ^ails 
with  supreme  dominion  through  the  depths 
of  air,  in  a  direct  course  to  his  everlasting 
mountain-home. 

§  65.    Conclusion. 

"We  have  thus  completed  our  survey  of  the 
doctrine  of  Forgiveness.  We  first  showed 
how  important  a  position  it  occupies  in  the 
New  Testament  and  in  Christian  experience. 


160  RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

We  next  pointed  out  the  difficulties  arising 
from  the  fact,  that  it  appeared  to  contradict 
the  doctrine  of  Retribution;  a  doctrine  which, 
as  we  saw,  also  holds  a  most  important  place 
in  the  New  Testament  and  in  Christian 
experience.  We  then  attempted  to  reconcile 
this  contradiction,  and  to  show  that  these 
two  great  doctrines  were  not  contradictory, 
but  antagonist ;  and  that  on  the  basis  of  this 
very  antagonism  depends  the  higher  life  of 
the  soul.  We  showed  that  God  reveals  him- 
self on  one  side  as  Law,  and  on  the  other 
side  as  Love ;  and  that  the  sight  of  Law  and 
Love  are  both  necessary  for  the  Christian 
Life,  —  the  sight  of  law  awakening  the  sense 
of  responsibility,  and  the  sight  of  love  awaken- 
ing the  sense  of  dependence.  We  showed 
the  place  of  faith  and  of  works,  of  activity 
and  receptivity,  of  energetic  obedience  and 
quiet  waiting,  in  the  Christian  Life.  After 
this  we  considered  the  objections  to  the  doc- 
trine of  forgiveness ;  saw  how  far  it  was  a 
work  of  God,  of  Christ,  of  man,  and  of  the 


RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS.  161 

Church ;  and  lastly,  considered  the  nature  of 
the  New  Life  flowing  out  of  it.  And  now  it 
would  be  profitable,  had  we  space  in  this 
essay,  to  consider  at  length  the  History  of 
the  Doctrine.  We  should  find  in  the  Sacri- 
fices, Priesthood,  and  Ritual  of  all  religions, 
how  deeply  such  a  doctrine  is  needed  by  the 
human  soul,  —  reading  in  all  these  the  con- 
fession, that  man  feels  himself  estranged  from 
God  by  sin,  and  is  always  seeking  for  some 
mode  of  Reconciliation.  We  should  see  this 
need  fully  expressed,  but  only  partially  re- 
lieved, by  the  Sacrifices  and  Ritual  of  the 
Jewish  law,  which  were  a  shadow  of  good 
things  to  come,  but  which  did  not  fully  relieve 
the  conscience,  or  take  away  the  sense  of  sin 
(Heb.  X.  2).  Yet  even  in  Judaism  we  should 
see  how  much  of  ardent  piety  and  holy  effort 
resulted  from  the  partial  manifestation  made 
of  God's  pardoning  mercy  by  means  of  that 
ritual.  In  the  life  of  Jesus  we  should  find 
the  full  manifestation  of  Divine  Grace;  we 
should  see  therein  a  love  irrespective  of  the 
11 


162  RESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

merit  of  its  object;  a  love  which  makes  no 
condition,  except  that  its  offers  should  be 
accepted;  a  love  proportioned,  not  to  the 
deserts,  but  to  the  necessities,  of  man.  In 
the  epistles  of  Paul  we  should  find  the  first 
doctrinal  statement  of  this  great  fact,  and 
this  doctrinal  statement  made  the  central 
point  of  his  Doctrinal  System.  By  this  doc- 
trine of  Grace,  Paul  brought  the  Gentile 
world  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and*  planted  in 
Europe  the  Seeds  of  all  our  spiritual  and 
moral  culture,  and  of  all  Modern  Civilization, 
Literature,  Art,  and  Science.  This  doctrine 
of  Grace,  having  been  lost  sight  of,  was  re- 
vived by  the  great  Aurelius  Augustine  at  the 
end  of  the  Fourth  Century.  His  soul  of  fire, 
penetrated  to  its  lowest  depths  by  the  living 
conviction  of  God's  free  love,  gave  a  new 
and  vast  impulse  to  the  human  mind.  But  it 
is  the  nature  of  our  human  life  to  allow  the 
forms  in  which  a  creative  spirit  has  embodied 
itself  finally  to  cover,  conceal,  and  destroy  the 
spirit  itself.     The  vital  impulse  given  by  such 


RESULTS   OF  FORGIVENESS.  163 

men  as  Paul  and  Augustine  embodies  itself 
in  institutions;  expresses  itself  by  symbolic 
ceremonies,  and  a  rich  worship ;  excites  a 
vast  amount  of  laborious  outward  activity; 
speaks  in  words  of  burning  force  and  sharp- 
est precision ;  and  then  the  spirit  which  has 
produced  all  this  is  lost  sight  of  in  the  rever- 
ence paid  to  its  own  work.  Then  men 
reverence  forms,  ceremonies,  creeds,  outward 
institutions;  and  seek  to  be  saved  by  a  pe- 
dantic observation  of  this  routine  of  works, 
rather  than  by  the  faith  which  first  produced 
them.  So  it  was  that  the  doctrines  of  Grace 
first  taught  by  Paul,  ,then  lost  sight  of  and 
revived  by  Augustine,  were  once  more  lost 
sight  of,  and  again  revived  by  Luther.  The 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  proclaimed 
by  Luther,  was  the  vital  principle  of  the 
reformation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  and 
again  became  a  new  impulse  of  life  to  the 
human  race.  Its  negative  work,  its  work  of 
denial,  conflict,  and  overthrow,  is  easily  seen 
and   measured;    but  the   positive   result   ol 


164  RESULTS   OF  FORGIVENESS. 

Luther's  Reformation  was  faith  in  the  un- 
bought  love  of  God  to  the  human  soul ;  and 
there  is  no  modern  reform,  nothing  which 
diffuses  comfort,  intelligence,  power,  among 
the  millions,  but  may  be  traced  to  this  great 
spiritual  movement  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 
But  now,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  we  may  ask,  "  Is  not  a  new 

REVIVAL  OF  THIS  GREAT  DOCTRINE  NEEDED  BY 

THE  Church  and  by  the  world?"  Have 
not  the  works  of  the  reformation  once  more 
eclipsed  its  interior  principle?  One  party 
supposes  that  the  essential  principle  of  the 
reformation  consists  in  the  creeds  and  opinions 
held  by  the  Reformers;  and  another  party 
supposes  that  it  consists  in  their  assertion  of 
the  Sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
Right  of  Private  Judgment.  Consequently 
we  have  a  new  idolatry  of  forms;  and  we 
worship,  in  our  day.  Creeds,  the  Letter  of  the 
Bible,  and  self-formed  Opinions.  And  so 
again  we  cut  ourselves  off  from  the  current 
of  that  inspiring  Life  which  creates  creeds, 


RESULTS  OF   FORGIYENESS.  165 

scriptures,  and  opinions,  but  is  never  created 
by  them.  Once  more  we  need  to  go  behind 
all  these  works  of  our  own  hands  and  minds, 
back  to  God's  free  love,  which  can  again 
make  all  things  new.  As,  when  the  Holy- 
Spirit  descended  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  a 
rushing  and  mighty  wind  filled  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting;  so  the  houses  of 
doctrine  and  form  must  be  j511ed  by  a  new 
inspiration,  and  God  once  more  shake  not 
the  Earth  only,  but  the  Heavens;  not  the 
world  only,  but  the  Church.  The  new  Revival 
of  the  doctrine  of  Grace  will  by  no  means 
express  itself  in  the  old  language;  for  each 
age  has  a  new  form  of  application  for  the 
same  truth.  The  language  of  Luther  differed 
from  that  of  Augustine.  The  language  of 
Augustine  differed  from  that  of  Paul.  The 
human  race  repeats  evermore  the  same  expe- 
riences, and  passes  through  the  same  errors ; 
yet  the  truth  each  time  is  attained  in  a  larger 
and  higher  form.  The  human  race  does  not 
revolve  in  a  circle,  but  ascends  in  a  spiral; 


166  BESULTS   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

passing,  indeed,  again  and  again  through  the 
same  errors  to  the  same  truths,  but  passing 
through  them  each  time  on  a  higher  plane. 
Thus,  though  no  man  can  predict  what  form 
the  doctrines  of  Grace  will  take  in  that  new 
manifestation  for  which  our  century  is  wait- 
ing, we  may  be  sure  that  such  a  manifestation 
must  come.  And  among  its  negative  results 
we  may  expect  to  see  the  destruction  of  Sec- 
tarian ramparts,  the  breaking  down  of  narrow 
Creeds,  the  overthrow  of  a  merely  polemic 
Theology,  and  a  merely  ecclesiastic  Ritual; 
while  among  its  positive  results  we  may  ex- 
pect the  foundation  of  a  new  Church  collected 
out  of  all  sects  under  heaven ;  a  Church  not 
of  the  Priesthood  nor  the  Clergy,  but  of  the 
People,  whose  ritual  shall  consist  of  action 
as  well  as  of  prayer,  of  humanity  as  well 
as  piety;  and  the  central  points  of  whose 
creed  shall  be,  that  God  is  the  universal 
Father  and  that  all  Mankind  are  Breth- 
ren. 

THE  END. 


VI 


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